Before we begin, I don’t care if that’s the wrong way to spell cheesey.

Ok.

I had set out to make a mac and cheese of some sort.

When guilt got the better of me, I reduced the amount of high fat dairy I would be dumping into this mess and it became more of a bake.

Instead of heavy cream, I used 1% milk.

Instead of 10 cups of cheese, I only used two.

I’m not saying this is at all Weight Watcher’s friendly, but you also don’t need to pop 3 Lipitors after you eat it.

Unless that’s your recreational drug of choice. I’m not here to judge.

INGREDIENTS:

Fusilli Pasta – 3/4 Bag
Broccoli, medium head, chopped
Italian Sausage, 5 links
Onion, 1/2, diced
Milk, 1% – 1.5 Cups
Butter – 3 Tbsp
Flour – 2 Tbsp
Shredded Cheddar and Jack – 2 Cups
Red Pepper Flakes
Salt and Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Boil your pasta about one minute less than the directions indicate and set aside.

Brown your Italian sausage links in a frying pan til they’re done and set aside. Chop into bite sized pieces.

Using the same pot, sautee your onion in the sausage grease for about five minutes. I always salt and pepper my onions.

Using a large stock pot, melt your butter. Then throw in your flour and cook for a minute or two before you add your milk and sautee on low heat to cook out the flour and create a roux. Constantly stir to avoid burning.

After the sauce/roux begins to thicken, add one cup of your cheese and stir until melted.

Add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.

Dump the noodles, sausage and onions and broccoli into the mixture and stir until well coated.

Transfer to 9″ by 11″ glass baking dish and sprinkle other cup of shredded cheese on top. If there isn’t any sauce pooling on the bottom of the dish, add a little warm milk to the mixture.

Bake for 25-30 minutes til cheese is melted and gooey.