Smoked Sausage and Cheesy Potatoes – 20 min. prep, 40 min. cook
The word YUM does not begin to describe this dish. Special K and The Hub are big fans of anything involving Meat and Potatoes. Add Cheese and they will be your best friends for at least the duration of the meal.
Smoked Sausage is something I generally have on hand. When they are on sale it’s usually a BOGO or something like that. It’s an easy food that defrosts quickly when I forget to pull something out the night before, therefore it is one of my best friends always.
The sausage has saved my life a few times. *hehehe
To make this ultra yum dish you need a few simple things that are usually on hand in your kitchen.
- 3 cups idaho potatoes, peeled, boiled and cut into cubes when cool, approx. 1 lb (I usually use fresh potatoes but last night I used canned, precooked and sliced white potatoes)
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 lb give or take Velveeta cheese, diced
- 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 lb skinless smoked sausage (Hillshire Farm is my favorite brand, we prefer the all beef or turkey sausages)
- 1/8 teaspoon paprika
First thing you want to do is pre-heat your oven to 350.
(Make sure you check it first for any toys, pans, socks, cats, or other small woodland creatures that may have found their way in without your knowledge.)
Second thing you want to do is cut up your sausage. Toss the slices into a skillet and let them cook until they start to turn brown. This will help bring out the flavor.
(I like to cut my sausage into little half moons, just under bite size. While I do this, I also like to laugh maniacally and use an unnecessarily large knife. Hub finds this very disturbing. I’m ok with that.)
While your sausage is cooking, warm the Milk, Butter, Salt, Pepper and Flour in a sauce pan on around medium heat, depending on the stove.
Be sure to mix the flour with a bit of milk before adding it to the whole sauce pan. Blend them together with a fork until there are no lumps.
(This is called a Ru, if you are from the South)
Once you have blended the Ru with the rest of the Milk, add your Velveeta. I use about 1/2 lb but you can go more or less, depending on how cheesy you want it.
Let the mixture cook until it starts to get thick and all the cheese is melted.
Make sure to check on your sausage and turn it as needed while you are stirring your Ru.
While those two are on the stove, pour your taters into a non-stick 2qt casserole dish or a 9×9 baking pan (that’s what I did)
Add your browned sausage to the taters. Give it a gentle toss, being careful not to break the potatoes.
Now, add your thickened cheese sauce.
Top it all with the shredded cheddar and a sprinkling of paprika.
Now, pop it all in the oven for about 35-40 minutes, until the cheese on top is browned.
I like to leave mine in until the cheese is on the slightly burnt side. That’s my favorite part.
I served it with a mixed green salad and some various fresh veggies from the community garden. I love tomato season!
We had friends pop in at the same time I was taking this out of the oven. It smelled so good that they were begging me to send some home with them. So, now I am minus a few forks and Tupper-ware containers but may have gained a few new regular dinner guests.
It was all so DELISH! I hope you all enjoy as much as we did.