Easy Pasta & Sausage Bake

and all I could do was shrug my shoulders.  So, off to the kitchen to pull together something, anything worthy of calling it dinner. Obviously it wasn’t going to be a gourmet meal and it wasn’t going to contain anything that was frozen that would need to be thawed to cook.  Grabbing some vegetables,a package of kielbasa out of the refrigerator and some pasta from the pantry along with some spices with no clear idea what to do with them, I placed them on the counter.  Mac & Cheese would come together quickly so I decided to throw everything together into a casserole dish and call it dinner.  Turned out delicious and there wasn’t any leftovers! My kind of meal.

Ingredients:

1 red bell peppers, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 package Hillshire Farms Polish Kielbasa or smoked sausage, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 oz box of Campanelle Pasta, cooked al dente
3 tablespoons butter, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
dash hot sauce
dash nutmeg
1-1/2 – 2 cups milk
2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese, divided (add more if you like)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet, heat to medium high then add red bell peppers and red onion, and sausage and saute till the sausage is heated through and the onions are softened, about 5 min.

Add the zucchini and garlic- saute just a few minutes, you don’t want to cook the zucchini all the way through as it will continue to cook in the oven.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the contents of the skillet to a bowl. Add the 3 tablespoons of butter and once it is melted, add the 3 tablespoons of flour.  Mix the two together and let cook one minute before adding the milk.

Whisk constantly while adding the milk to prevent lumps in the sauce.  Once the sauce is smooth, add the salt and pepper to taste, the dash of nutmeg and hot sauce, mix.  Let come to a boil and thicken.  If it’s too thick, add more milk.  You want it a bit on the loose side as it will be absorbed by the pasta and will also thicken a bit more in the oven.

Add the one cup of cheese and stir to melt. Return the sausage mixture to skillet and add the pasta and combine till cheese sauce has coated everything.

Spray a 13×9 baking dish with nonstick spray and pour the pasta sausage mixture in.  Top with the remaining cheese and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes till hot and bubbly.