Fontina and Prosciutto Baked Ziti

Ingredients

• 1lb of Ziti or Medium Cut Pasta or your choice

•     4 Tbsp of Butter

•     4 Tbsp of All Purpose Flour

•     2-1/2 cups of Whole Milk

•     2 tsp of Dijon Mustard

•     Pinch of Nutmeg

•     4oz of Fontina, shredded, split into thirds

•     1/2 cup of Freshly Grated Parm

•     1/4 cup of Freshly Grated Pecorino, optional but adds great flavor

•     Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

•     3oz of Prosciutto, roughly chopped or torn

Preparation

1) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, fill a large pot with water, bring to a boil, add a generous pinch of salt, add the pasta and cook 2 minutes shy of al dente, about 7 minutes, meanwhile, make the sauce.

    2) In a saucepan, add the butter, once melted, add the flour, stir it in cooking for about 30 seconds, then add the milk, whisk constantly to prevent lumps, then cook while stirring with wooden spoon for about 4 to 5 minutes on medium heat or until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper then stir in the nutmeg, mustard, 2/3 of the fontina, prosciutto, parm and pecorino.

    3) Once the pasta is cooked, drain well, place it back in the same pot, add the creamy cheese sauce, stir to make sure each piece is well coated then place in a buttered dish (a 9×13 or slightly smaller is good) top with the remaining third of fonatina and a bit more parm.

    4) Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly, allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.