Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large onions, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound cavatappi-shaped pasta
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded provolone
1 cup shredded Swiss
1/2 cup broth (chicken, beef, vegetable)
1 pkg Steak Umms slices, roughly chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
Preparation
Place a large pot of salted water over high heat and bring it to a boil.
Once the water boils, cook the cavatappi to al dente according to package directions. Once the pasta has finished cooking, drain it and return it to the pot it was cooked in.
While the pasta is cooking, place a large skillet over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Add the onions to the pan and top them with a lid or piece of aluminum foil for 2-3 minutes, just to get them cooking. Remove the lid or aluminum foil and continue cooking the onions until tender and lightly caramelized, 8-10 minutes.
While the onions are caramelizing, melt the butter over medium-high heat in a medium-size pot. Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter and cook the mixture for about 1 minute. Whisk the milk into the butter-flour mixture slowly and bring up to a bubble to thicken. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the shredded cheese. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and reserve.
To the skillet with the onions, add the broth and the Steak Umms. Cook until the meat is no longer pink.
Add the cheese sauce and the onion-beef mixture to the pot with the drained pasta and toss everything to combine. Transfer to a casserole dish. Top with additional cheese and parsley. Broil until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
METHOD
I began by slicing an onion. My newly sharpened chef knife slid through it like butter.
I heated a couple of tablespoons of oil in a skillet and tossed that onion in to caramelize.
While the onion caramelizes, prepare the pasta. Because I cut this recipe in half, I only used 1/2 lb. of pasta. 
Aren’t these little Cavatappi noodles cute? Just like little piggy tails.
Toss them into a pot of salted boiling water and cook according to the package directions.
Now that the onions are on their way to carmelization and those pasta piggy tails are boiling away, cut up a package of Steak Umms. Or in my case, half of a package of Steak Umm’s.
Caramelizing the onions is a must. It brings a delicious savory sweetness to them. These need a little longer. I like mine just a deeper brown. However, I’m running out of time before the party.
So, I go ahead and throw in my Steak Umms and a little broth. Cook and stir until those Steak Umms are no longer pink.
While the Steak Umms brown you can pull yourself away for a moment to drain the cooked pasta and…
start the cheese sauce. Just melt butter in a sauce pan and whisk in the flour.Once smooth, add your milk and cook and stir until bubbly and slightly thickened. Add some salt and pepper too.
Now for the cheese. Go ahead and stir in the provolone and the Swiss cheese until melted. 
Stir the cheese sauce into the onion-Steak Umm’s mixture. I stopped here to salt and pepper to taste.
Stir in the pasta.
Transfer everything to a casserole dish.
Top with some more cheese. I used more Provolone and a little Monterrey Jack. I also threw on some chopped parsley.
I put mine under the broiler until the cheese was melted and bubbly.
Just look at that!
No. Wait a minute. Look closer. Mmmm. Just…Mmmmm.
Ready to dig in? No, none for me, thanks. Remember? I’m off to eat pizza and birthday cake at Bounce World. Okay, maybe I’ll have a taste…or two…or a few bowls. Nope, I put this amazing concoction into the refrigerator…with instructions, of course. Then I headed out the door. 
By Krista’s Kitchen.
Thanks for inspiring us!
You can see the recipe here: cookingwithkrista.blogspot.com
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