Comfort Food: Sausage Broccoli Mac and Cheese

The comfort we take from food is something that I think we all share. 

Right, wrong, or indifferent, comfort food is called comfort food for a reason: it's hearty and satisfying and makes you feel warm and sleepy when you're done with it.

Comfort food is universal. One of the few links we all share.

My favorite comfort foods involve cheese or have casserole in the name. This is probably surprising to none of you.

Loaded mashed potatoes, tater tot casserole with lots of cheese, hash-brown casserole, green bean casserole with extra fried crispy onion straw things.

One of my best friends, Camdon, shares my love of cheese and casseroles, and he gave me this recipe recently. It's hearty, it's filling, it's cheaper than dirt and if you have kids in the house, forget about it, this shit is gone.

What you need...

A 13x9 inch glass casserole dish

A polska kielbasa sausage link...the big one that comes in like the oval shape

A bag of frozen broccoli

two cans of cheddar cheese soup

1 box elbow macaroni

shredded cheese

panko bread crumbs or crushed croutons if you want a crunchy top {we did. shocker I know.}

Slice the sausage into pennies and fry it in a little olive oil until it's brown on the edges or as crispy as you like it. I usually pepper mine with a little garlic powder, onion powder and a dash of Cajun seasoning.

Boil the elbow macaroni until it's the texture you like it, then drain it.

Mix the soup, sausage, frozen broccoli and drained pasta together in the casserole dish. 

Add about a half a cup of shredded cheddar and mix again.

Top with your bread crumbs or crushed croutons, and throw it in a preheated oven at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and it's hot and bubbly. 

Eat, feel comforted, go for a long walk. 

Enjoy.