Baked Smoked Sausage Pasta

This yummy baked smoked sausage pasta gem actually came one night when I was in a bit of a jam. I knew that I needed to make something for supper, but I didn’t have any meat thawed and really didn’t want to have to go to the store to buy anything! I happened to have some smoked sausage in the freezer and so I threw the package into a little water bath to thaw it and whipped this together. It’s super simple and you can modify it some to suit your tastes.

For mine, I used a spicy smoked sausage that has a bit of a kick. You can also use kielbasa and can do either pork or chicken sausage. Uncured smoked sausage is what I recommend for this. If you can find a local farm that makes it…even better! Local is always a good choice! You might be able to find a local farm at a farmer’s market in your area.

I also made this gluten-free by using brown rice pasta. But you could use wheat flour or even chickpea flour. I topped this with cheddar cheese, but you can use any type of block cheese that you’d like. Some suggestions would be cheddar, Monterrey Jack, mozzarella, Colby. I do recommend shredding your own to avoid the cellulose used in pre-shredded cheese as a way to keep it from clumping.

I was really surprised at how tasty and filling this baked smoked sausage pasta was! It is definitely going on my “make it again” list.