Fire Roasted Buffalo Chicken Sausage Mac and Cheese

November 1, 2020

Buafflo Chicken Macn and Cheese

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Originally published at Nibble Me This 

Add some extra kick and flavor to your mac and cheese with some Buffalo chicken and sausage. Finish it off in the oven for a perfect texture.

Yield:
8-10 servings

Prep Time:
10 minutes

Cook Time:
60 min

Ingredients

  • 3/4 pound buffalo chicken sausage
  • 1/2 stick butter
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon NMT Beef Rub v.2
  • 2 tablespoons Franks RedHot Buffalo Wings Sauce
  • 2 1/2 cups shredded cheese (divided – see notes)
  • 8 ounces cavitappi pasta
  • 2 cups homemade croutons
  • 1/4 cup blue cheese
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, green onion, or celery leaves for garnish

Directions

  1. Preheat your grill.  Set up your grill for direct heat and preheat to 400°f (medium-high).
  2. Cook the pasta.  Cook the pasta according to package directions and when draining, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.
  3. Brown the sausage.  Place a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.  Remove the sausage from the casing and brown in the skillet, about 8 minutes.  Remove sausage from the skillet, reserving the fat.
  4. Make the sauce.  Add butter to the skillet and whisk in the flour until combined in a light roux, about 1-2 minutes of constant whisking.  Slowly add in the whole milk and then the cream, still whisking continuously.  It will start to seize up at first, but as you keep whisking and adding liquid, it will become a creamy base. Whisk in the beef rub and Buffalo Wing Sauce.  Add 2 cups of the cheese in small batches, waiting for each batch to melt before adding the next.
  5. Put the mac and cheese together.  Add the pasta and sausage to the sauce, stirring to coat everything.  If the sauce is too thick, add some of the reserved pasta water to thin it out a little.  Pour into a greased, grill-safe casserole dish. Press the croutons down into the mac and cheese. Crumble the blue cheese over the top.
  6. Fire roast the mac and cheese.  Switch your grill to an indirect heat seat up (see Notes/Substitutions) and keep the heat at 400°f. Fire roast the mac and cheese until the top is toasted and the cheese sauce is bubbling up – about 20-25 minutes.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese at about 10 minutes from the end, just long enough to melt.