The meat-and-potatoes combo is perhaps the ultimate in comfort food, but it can get boring quickly. Switch things up with this creamy noodle-sausage bake—it’s easy enough for a weeknight meal but refined enough to serve to company.

What to buy: Bockwurst is a mild, fresh veal-and-pork sausage flavored with herbs. It is widely available at grocery stores and butcher shops. If you can’t find it, just use your favorite fresh sausage.

Celery root, also known as celeriac, is a knobby-looking root that can be found in gourmet grocery stores and at farmers’ markets. It imparts a sweet, vanilla-like flavor to this dish. If you can’t find it, go ahead and use regular celery.

This recipe was featured as part of our Oktoberfest Food photo gallery.

  • Yields: 6 servings
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Total: 1 hr 5 mins
  • Active: 30 mins

Ingredients (11)

  • 12 ounces wide egg noodles
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/4 stick)
  • 24 ounces fresh Bockwurst Sausage (about 6 sausages)
  • 2 cups peeled, medium-dice celery root, also known as celeriac
  • 2 cups medium-dice yellow onion
  • 16 ounces white mushrooms, stemmed and quartered
  • 1 cup dry Riesling or a sweet white wine
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 cup heavy cream

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 375°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil over high heat. When it boils, add egg noodles and cook for half of the time indicated on the package. Drain and set aside in a large bowl.
  2. Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. When the foaming subsides, add sausages and cook until browned all over, about 10 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.
  3. Add celery root and onion to the pan and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook until just starting to soften, about 5 minutes.
  4. Increase heat to medium high, add mushrooms, and cook, stirring rarely, until just starting to brown, about 8 minutes. Add wine and cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until the alcohol smell has cooked off, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle mixture with flour and cook, stirring constantly, until flour is well incorporated. Add chicken broth and mustard, stir to incorporate, and bring to a simmer.
  5. Remove from heat and pour in cream. Add sauce to noodles and stir until evenly coated. Taste and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper as desired.
  6. Transfer to a 13-by-9-inch baking dish and nestle reserved sausages in noodles. Cover with foil and bake until sauce is bubbling, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake until top of casserole is slightly browned and sausage is cooked through, about 10 minutes more.