One thing I know my kids are guaranteed to eat night after night are buttered noodles.

As much as I love the simplicity of the dinner option, I wanted to spice it up last night and make it a full blown meal for the entire family to enjoy. That way I wasn’t making our main meal with those damn buttered noodles on the side.

I had some Italian sausage and ground beef in the fridge in preparation to make Nance’s Spaghetti *Side note: if you haven’t tried her recipe yet, you’re missing out. Bookmark that one for this weekend.

But with the request for “buttered noodles” again, I skipped spaghetti and dove into my own creation with penne pasta and a little lemon zest.

This meal is really simple and extremely tasty. Most of these ingredients you likely have at home already, grab the additional ones you need and enjoy this One Pot Meal.

Creamy Penne with Italian Sausage and Lemon Zest

PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOK TIME: 20 minutes
SERVES: 6
CLEANUP TIME: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

1 package of penne pasta
1½ cups parmesan cheese
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup whole milk
½ cup heavy whipping cream
¼ cup room temperature cream cheese
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (or a pinch of oregano, basil, onion powder)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon minced garlic
¼ cup cornstarch
pinch of red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you want it)
½ pound ground beef
½ pound Italian sausage
1 tablespoon olive oil
fresh parsley for garnish
zest of a lemon
salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Bring Large Pasta Pot filled with water to boil for pasta, cook pasta according to package al dente (about 8 minutes)
While water is boiling, in a large skillet heat olive oil and cook Italian sausage and ground beef together until golden brown. Drain fat and set aside
In a small mixing bowl combine melted butter, garlic, Italian seasoning, onion powder and red pepper flakes, set aside
When pasta is ready, drain noodles and pasta water. In the same hot pot, add both milks, cream cheese, cheeses, butter mix, cornstarch and put back on burner for a few minutes until creamy
Add noodles and beef and cook on stove for an additional 5 minutes or until well combined and cheesy
Serve with fresh parsley and some lemon zest, Enjoy!