Dracula's Revenge (Baked Penne with Sausage and Garlic)

Made this for dinner tonight. Clearly I need to read the prep steps before deciding to make it! I started making it at 4pm when we got home from the grocery and it wasn't ready until 545pm. At our house we call dishes that need lots of prep work needy dishes. This is definitely a needy dish. I wasn't really impressed with the flavor but hubby like it alot. I think if I make this in the future I will take some of the previous suggestions of decreasing the milk and increasing the flour.

My husband and I love this dish! I did take other reader suggestions and cut the milk down less than half. I added onion and mushrooms, cut thick, as well as red pepper flakes. I also used Italian seasoning and oregano, instead of sage and rosemary, as we don't care for either sage or rosemary. It was delicious, and the garlic infused the dish perfectly.

Love this. Made as directed the first time and it was great. Since then have added a few things to make it out of this world: Cherry or grape tomatoes and kalamata olives; once made it with all those things plus chunks of onion and quartered baby bella mushrooms. So....an awesome recipe...with possibilities!

This was great, took others advice and cut back the amount of milk (I used 2%) and had no problem with the recipe. Didn't have any sage, so doubled up on the fresh rosemary, and added extra of that as well. DH loved it too! Tastes very rich and decadent! Served with tossed salad.

Fantastic, I can't believe this is Cooking Light!! It's rich and creamy, both my husband and I thought it was delicious. Based on the other reviews, I used 1/2 cup flour and 5 cups milk. Turned out great, not too thick and definitely not soupy. Served with a green salad and roasted an extra head of garlic to serve with bread on the side (lots of carbs I know, but since I was already roasting the garlic...)

Was very pleased with how the dish turned out. The garlic and cheeses give it an excellent taste. I agree the milk amount stated is too high. I used about 2 1/3 C skim milk and it made a thick creamy sauce. Added some spinach and orange bell pepper for color and a serving of veggies. It does take some time to make but so worth it and plenty leftover to freeze. Think I will try it over spaghetti squash next time!

My daughter expects this every Halloween . . . and now asks for it often! Delicious! (But either up the flour or decrease the milk!)

Great dish! I believe there is a mistake in the recipe about the amount of milk to flour. I added about a 1/4 cp more of flour to thicken the sauce so it was not soupy.

I was really looking forward to this recipe. What a disappointment. A lot of work for a pretty boring dish. I won't make this again.

Made this several times because my family LOVES it. I substitute veggie sausage for the sausage and it's great. You could also skip the meat completely and add some steamed or sauteed swiss chard, kale or spinach. I love the combo of garlic, sage and pumpkin so I also added 1-2 cups of pumpkin puree and a shake of red pepper flakes to the sauce. Tastes great and makes the sauce less soupy. Perfect for a chilly fall evening.

Really great! Everyone mentioned that the sauce was soupy. I think there is a misprint in the recipe - six cups of milk seemed excessive, so I cut it in half - it was great! I also added 1/2 of a large onion, and sauteed it in the pan before cooking the sausage. I agree with "foodieforpeace" - there is a lot of prep, but I made it on a weekend, so I could freeze half of it, and take portions to work. Tastes EXCELLENT! Great comfort food, and would be great to serve to garlic-loving guests!

This was delicious! Like others, mine came out a little soupy but I did take another reviewers suggestion and let it sit for 15 minutes, which helped. I used homemade sweet Italian venison sausage instead of turkey, Wegmans garlic cheese butter, whole wheat flour & pasta, and fat free milk. I will definitely make this again...can't wait for left overs!

I used Morningstar Farms sausage links for a vegetarian side dish and Swiss cheese instead of Gruyere. So rich and bubbly - awesome side dish and one of my favorites! Don't forget to throw in some crushed red pepper to heat things up!

This was good but not excellent. I felt that the sauce overpowered the sausage and it was a lot of work for an okay dish. My family really liked the sauce so if I did it again I'd leave out the sausage. Since I didn't care much for the sauce, I would just mix the cooked pasta, sausage, spices and garlic then top it off w/grated parmesan.

I'm sure this was something I did, but although this was delicious, I had a soupy mess. The milk/cheese/flour mixture didn't thicken much. Any ideas out there?

I LOVE this dish!! It is AWESOME! We used 3 heads of roasted garlic instead of two. We also added Sweet Basil and Sage to the sausage mixture. It does come out runny right after taking it out of the oven. You can add a little more flour when making the rue beforehand to help thicken, or let it sit 10-15 minutes after taking it out of the oven. It will thicken and is soooo good! Re-heats excellent, perfect for leftovers, lunches. Great for Special Occassions or just a comfort food dish. One of my Favorite Dishes!!!

We are reprising this recipe and needed to give my 2 spoons on this one. Excellent taste. Upping the flour to 1/2 cup does give you a richer consistency. I roasted the garlic and mashed it yesterday to save a step. Will be adding 8 oz. sliced cremini mushrooms, sauteed after we cook the sausage. Also am using whole wheat penne. It's not a weeknight meal to tackle after work unless you have done a lot of pre-prep (roast garlic, cook sausage, shred cheese) so making it on a day off with leftovers later in the week will work. We always serve it with a veg, tonight haricot verts. We love this one!