It’s baseball season, which means late nights at the ballpark and fast food for supper. I’ve been trying to cook suppers on our off-nights that will make leftovers, so we aren’t eating out as often, and this is something I came up with using ingredients I already had on hand.

We have a freezer full of deer meat, and I was thinking of a new way to use this sausage. I looked in my pantry and saw a box of bowtie pasta, and then came up with this…

It’s just a cheesey pasta with sausage in it, but it’s so good! The kids loved it too!

Here’s what I used:

• 1 lb deer sausage (or any kind of link sausage)
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 lb pasta (I used bowtie but any shape will work)
• 1 can Rotel
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I used Monterey Jack)
• 2 tbs flour
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (or milk if you don’t have cream on hand)

Start by boiling the pasta, then drain it and set aside. While the pasta is boiling, slice the sausage and cook it in a deep skillet. When the sausage is cooked, add the garlic and onion and saute until they are tender. If the sausage didn’t produce enough grease to cook the vegetables in, add a little oil or butter. Season with salt and pepper.

(I used onion and garlic because those were the only vegetables I had, but this would also be good with bell pepper, celery, or any other vegetables.)

Next add in the 2 tbs flour and stir until it is mixed in, then add the chicken stock. Stir until it begins to thicken, then add in the Rotel, cheese, and heavy cream. Continue stirring until everything is combined.

(When making sauces I like to grate my own cheese – it seems to melt better than the pre-shredded kind that comes in a bag.)

Once the cheese is melted into a creamy sauce, toss in the drained pasta, then serve with garlic bread.

This was easy to make, and tasted amazing! You can change things up with this recipe by using different vegetables or a different kind of cheese – pretty much whatever you have on hand will work.

Thanks y’all!

– Nikki