Sausage Mac & Cheese

In our house, cheese makes everything better!  If we want to guarantee that Roman will eat his meal, the first thing we do is top it with a little cheese.  I wish I could take total credit for this recipe, but I actually came across the idea of mixing these ingredients together on a local mommy Facebook page.  Another mom had posted a picture of what her house was having for supper and I thought it might be an interesting dish to add to our circulation.  From the minute John and Roman bit into this meal I knew I would be making this again.  In no time flat Roman devoured the entire bowl and John was going back for seconds.

I will be the first to admit this isn't exactly the most calorie friendly recipe but sometimes you just need a thick, gooey cheese sauce to make you happy.  If you wanted to lighten the recipe up you could substitute the traditional cheese sauce for the sauce used in the Smart Mac & Cheese recipe I posted a while back.

Sausage Mac & Cheese
1 pkg. (5 links) sausage, removed from casings
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 cup macaroni, cooked as per package
Cheese Sauce
2T butter
2T flour
1 1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese

Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.  Slowly whisk in milk to prevent lumps.  Stir in cheese and whisk until cheese is completely melted.  If you find the sauce is a little on the thick side you can  add more milk.

Fry the sausage in a pan over medium-high heat, breaking it into small pieces.  Add chopped pepper and cook until sausage is cooked through.  Reduce heat and add macaroni to the pan, along with the cheese sauce.  Stir until everything is well coated with cheese and warmed through.  Serve with chopped fresh parsley or grated parmesan cheese.