Sauerkraut and Kielbasa Casserole

 

I squeezed a really delicious casserole into our dinner menu just before the weather got too nice to think of anything but salads and grilled foods. Actually, I made this recipe twice because I wasn’t quite happy with the way the potatoes turned out the first time around.

Okay, I’ll back up just a second. You see, if this casserole, which is mostly stuffed with sauerkraut and turkey kielbasa, is really a potpie, then thinly-sliced potatoes are its crust. They are shingled in overlapping layers over the top of everything. In the original recipe, they were Yukon gold potatoes and they were supposed to get brown and crispy. I found that, while the potatoes did brown nicely, they didn’t really cook through. A lot of their crunchiness was due to their un-cooked-ed-ness.

 

And so when I tried this again I covered the dish for the first 45 minutes of cooking and the potatoes did cook. Well, I pulled one of my usual unscientific tricks of changing two variables at once and not only covered the dish the second time around, but also used a different variety of potato. I swapped in russet potatoes for the Yukon golds.

I’m confident in recommending either potato, however, and I’m also confident in recommending covering the baking dish to get the potatoes nicely cooked. Whatever you do with the potatoes, though, the best thing about this casserole is the classic combination of sausage and sauerkraut. There’s also plenty of onion and an apple in the mix, along with flavor boosts from caraway and fennel seeds, spicy brown mustard, white wine, and cider vinegar. 

 

While casserole season may be at an end, this dish is still a delicious crowd-pleaser no matter the weather. It’s a new take on old-school flavors. And satisfying like old-school comfort food.

Sauerkraut and Kielbasa Casserole

Adapted from Eating Well magazine, Sept/Oct 2012

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 large onion, sliced

1 teaspoon caraway seed

½ teaspoon fennel seed

1 large apple, chopped

1 cup dry white wine

13 ounces turkey kielbasa, sliced ½ inch thick

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 ½ cups sauerkraut, drained well

1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1-1 ½ pounds Yukon gold or russet potatoes (peeled if desired)

1 tablespoon butter, melted

½ kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Spray a 3-quart casserole dish with cooking spray or grease it with oil or butter.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook about 5 minutes or until just beginning to brown.

3. Lightly crush the caraway and fennel seeds with a mortar and pestle or a knife. Add them to the onion. Add the apple and wine. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until most of the wine has evaporated, about 5 minutes.

4. Remove from the heat and stir in the kielbasa, cider vinegar, sauerkraut, mustard and black pepper. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.

5. Thinly slice the potatoes and place them in a large bowl. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, butter and salt. Toss the potatoes to coat well. Arrange the potato slices, tightly overlapping them, over the sauerkraut mixture.

6. Cover and bake at 400 F for 45 minutes. Remove the cover and continue baking 15 minutes more or until the potatoes are very tender and getting brown. Remove from the oven and let stand about 10 minutes before serving.

Makes about 6 servings.

Another recipe like this one: Potato and Sauerkraut Cakes

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Pasta with Sausage, Peppers and Olives

 

I often wonder how I was able, in some deep, dark past, to put together relatively elaborate meals on any given week night. Of course, it has a lot to do with not working full time back then. Now quicker, simpler things have a much better chance getting on the table, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not even so much a matter of not having enough time for bigger spreads as it is not having enough energy. Something tells me that other busy folks, especially parents of young children, feel similarly.

That’s where this delicious but easy dish comes in. While I don’t think it would be an quick sell to hungry kids, especially if you use a spicy Italian sausage, it’s got a good chance of keeping us drained adults going, while not taking that much time and energy. This is simply pasta with sausage and peppers, but with some big flavor boost from olives (any kind will do, but I like Kalamata or other “fancy” olives) and feta cheese.

This is one of those recipes for which you don’t really need a recipe. In fact, last time I made it, I could not find any printed or electronic version of what I had always done and, though it had been a long time since I made it, I remembered the recipe pretty well. (I did eventually find a battered printout and my memory got me pretty close to the original!) And once you’ve made it a few times, you’ll know what you want to add and/or take away to make it more suited to your tastes or to what you tend to have on hand.

Really, I just need this kind of thing in front of me in recipe form to remind myself of the idea that spicy sausage, bell peppers, briny olives and funky feta are a great combination. And that they take just a little of my precious time and energy to throw together with pasta for a simple but satisfying supper.

Pasta with Sausage, Peppers and Olives

Adapted from Cooking Light, May 2003

8 ounces uncooked short pasta, such as orecchiette, farfalle, penne or shells

8 ounces spicy Italian sausage (remove from casing if not purchased in bulk)

olive oil, if needed

3 cups bell pepper (any color; a mix is nice), cut into short, ¼ wide strips

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ cup chopped pitted olives

¾ cup feta cheese, crumbled

1. Cook pasta in boiling salted water according to package directions until al dente. Drain, reserving a cup or so of cooking water, and keep warm.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking apart, until just browned. Add the peppers and continue cooking until the peppers are lightly browned and tender-crisp and the sausage is fully cooked. If the sausage has little fat and the pan is getting too dry to keep the sausage and peppers from sticking, add some olive oil as needed.

3. Stir in the garlic, oregano and olives. Cook about 2 minutes. Add the hot cooked pasta and feta cheese. Pour in some of the reserved pasta cooking water if desired to moisten. Toss together and cook until warmed through.

Makes about 4 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Pasta with Kale, Summer Squash,Olives and Feta Cheese; Pasta with Sausage, Kale and Fresh Herbs; Penne with Chicken Sausage, Olives and Walnut Sauce

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Pasta with Sausage and Kale

Okay, I admit it: my new job is kicking my blog’s butt.  Until my time management skills are up to par, it’s going to be difficult to organize new recipes, shop for their special ingredients, prepare and photograph new dishes, and write something about them to post to The Messy Apron.

Luckily, there are lovely green things growing in my garden (and other people’s gardens) that make it relatively simple to squeeze in a fresh and simple pasta dish for a late supper after working all weekend.  The star of this dish is a nice bundle of Red Russian kale, which, despite its reputation as a cold weather plant, has been growing quite nicely in my backyard, even in the 100+ degree heat. I paired it with spicy Italian turkey sausage and flavored it with garlic and fresh basil and oregano.

I was amazed at the bright, tangy flavor of the kale in this dish. I thought for sure it would have grown especially bitter in the heat (like me). You could do this whole thing your own way, of course, but I went heavier on the kale than on the sausage, though the sausage did add plenty of richness and spice. This is really about using what you have and making what you have time for.

…and enjoying a few quiet moments in the garden, then in the kitchen, then at the table. Even if you end up sitting down to dinner in front of the TV at 9 pm when the light isn’t so good for photographs.

I hope to be posting more regularly soon.

Pasta with Sausage, Kale and Fresh Herbs

6-8 ounces dry short-cut pasta

8 ounces spicy Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
1 tablespoon olive oil, optional
2 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped
large bunch kale, stems removed, chopped (about 8 cups)
¼ teaspoon salt
a few grinds of black pepper
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until just a little firmer than you like to eat it. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking water.

2. Meanwhile, place the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook until just browned, breaking the sausage apart to brown evenly. If the sausage is lean, add the olive oil to the pan to keep it from sticking.

3. Add the garlic to the pan and cook about 1 minute, stirring frequently.

4. Add the kale, salt, pepper and about ½ cup reserved pasta cooking water.  Increase the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is well wilted and the sausage is cooked through, about 5-8 minutes. Add the basil and oregano. Cook and stir about 1 minute more.

5. Add the cooked pasta to the pan and stir to combine. If the pan seems dry, add some more of the pasta cooking water. Cook just long enough to heat through. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

 Makes about 4 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Pasta with Kale, Summer Squash,Olives and Feta Cheese; Penne with Chicken Sausage, Olives and Walnut Sauce

One year ago: Flour Tortillas with Cornmeal, Summer Squash Galette with Ricotta and Feta

Souper Bowl

The Green Bay Packers are in the Super Bowl!!!!

Like most fans, it has taken me some time to really believe it, but now I’m celebrating. And what better way to celebrate than with some essence of Green Bay. How about a beer and cheese soup? How about we put some bratwurst in there as well?

If you’re extremely health-conscious (or a Pittsburgh Steelers fan) you might want to look away now. This isn’t exactly light fare, although I did take the creamy sausage-y cheesy-ness down a notch from the original recipe. You could always take back some of the calories by adding more cheese and more bratwurst or by using whole milk or cream. In that case, you might want to reserve this soup for special occasions, such as these. We want you to still be around to experience the next time the Packers are in the Super Bowl.

This soup is pretty fast to make. The aromatics (onions, carrots and celery) are cooked slowly in the pan before adding any of the liquid. That way, the soup doesn’t have to cook much once the dairy products and thickening flour are added. I’ve make longer-cooking thick soups before and ended up with a lot of burned gunk on the bottom of the pan.

There’s lots of great flavor in this soup, with the sharpness of the cheddar balanced by the bitterness of the beer and supported by the meaty bratwurst. Since there’s nothing to hide the beer and cheese, however, it will only be as good as the ingredients you put in it. Wisconsin cheddar is preferred, of course. Vermont or Irish cheddars are good as well, but you didn’t hear that from me, at least not this week. I must admit I used an imported pale ale, simply because someone is going to have to drink the rest of the 6-pack and I had to choose something that was palatable to the only beer-drinker in the household (not me.) The beer has no time to cook away in this recipe, so you’re better off with something you like (and demanding photo ID from anyone to whom you serve it.)

Even if you aren’t from Wisconsin (I’m not, but I’ve lived near one Wisconsin border or another for most of my life) I think you can appreciate the great combination of beer and cheese and sausage. All this meal needs is some rye bread and sauerkraut (I served a vinegary slaw instead of the kraut.) And even if this isn’t the kind of high-in-saturated-fat dish you’d typically eat every day (you probably shouldn’t), this is a celebration, because have you heard?

THE GREEN BAY PACKERS ARE IN THE SUPER BOWL!!!!!

Beer Cheese Soup with Bratwurst
Based on a recipe in Midwest Living magazine

I used fresh Johnsonville brand Beer n’ Bratwurst, which I first par-boiled then browned to cook it through and give it some color. Fully cooked bratwurst or smoked sausages would probably be good here as well.

2 tablespoons butter
½ cup finely chopped onion
½ cup finely chopped peeled carrot
½ cup finely chopped celery
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon caraway seeds, coarsely crushed
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chicken broth or stock, preferably unsalted or reduced-sodium
1 cup milk (I used 2%) or half and half
2 links cooked bratwurst, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 12-ounce can or bottle beer, preferably pale ale or lager
8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese, about 2 ½ cups

1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook about 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally.

2. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Stir in the caraway seeds and black pepper.

3. Slowly stir in the broth. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring to dissolve any lumps of flour, for about 2 minutes. Stir in the milk and cook 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir frequently, scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent any sticking.

4. Add the bratwurst and beer and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Add the cheese and cook, stirring, just until the cheese melts.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Corn Chowder with Edamame, Sausage and Spinach Soup

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Sausage and Vegetables

I love the whole process of roasting vegetables.  It cleans out the refrigerator or other vegetable storage container. It warms the kitchen on these numbingly cold days.  It results in a nutritious side dish with lots of vitamins and fiber.  It’s incredibly easy.  Oh yeah, don’t let me forget the most important part: it makes delicious, delicious food.

Lately, instead of trying to come up with an appropriate protein to serve alongside my vegetables, I’ve upgraded the roasted vegetable side dish to a one-pan main dish by adding sausage.  Just put some sausage in the pan with the vegetables and roast them all together.  Everyone gets along just fine.  It’s just that easy.

I prefer spicy, uncooked and uncured sausage links, such as the spicy chicken Italian sausage from Trader Joe’s that I used most recently.  I like the way a bit of the spicy flavor of the sausage mingles with the vegetables, but this is much more subtle when a lean sausage is used rather than one that can render plenty of flavorful fat to contribute to the vegetables during the roasting process.  Either way, the sausage gets browned and a little crusty, just how I like it.  And if it overcooks? Well, I tend to enjoy a well-browned and gnarly hunk of sausage just fine, thank you.  What you’re really concerned about is undercooking, anyway.  Just make sure that your sausage is appropriately cooked through before serving it. If you use a fully-cooked sausage, just add it later in the roasting process to prevent overcooking.

Since I’ve been eating this stuff on weekend afternoons while watching the end of the football season, I have also found it necessary to serve this with a dipping sauce.  Football and dip just go too well together to pass up this garnishing opportunity.  Lots of dips will work, but I’ve been making an aioli (garlic mayonnaise) with parsley that almost upstages the beautiful vegetables and sausage.  It’s quite simple to make (you need something to do while waiting for the oven’s work to be done anyway), involving just mayonnaise, garlic-salt paste, and a bit of parsley.  I use homemade whole egg mayonnaise, using this recipe from Delicious Days, but if you don’t care to make your own, you could use a good store-bought mayonnaise.  If the taste isn’t where you want it, try adding some lemon juice.

Pretty much all of the winter storage vegetables will work to make this dish.  Most recently, I made it with butternut squash, turnips, parsnips, carrots and potatoes.  If you, or someone you love, doesn’t “do” these sweet, bitter and hardy vegetables, the dish is great with just potatoes and sausage.  And you can use whatever dip you like, too.  Heck, try it with ketchup for all I care.  Just don’t miss out on this easy, warming and flavorful one-pan meal.

Roasted Winter Vegetables and Sausage

If you use a fully-cooked sausage, add it later in the cooking process, say after the first 20 minutes, to keep it from becoming hopelessly overcooked.

6 cups fall/winter storage vegetables (such as potatoes, carrots, rutabaga, parsnips, winter squash), peeled if appropriate, and cut into 1-2 inch cubes

¼ cup olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons coarse (kosher) salt, or to taste
a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
3 links (10-12 ounces) sausage (I prefer spicy sausage) with casing

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. In a large bowl, combine the vegetables with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir together to coat the vegetables well with the oil.

2. Place the vegetables in a large roasting pan or a sheet pan. Cut the sausage into about 2-inch pieces. Add the sausage to the vegetables in the pan.

3. Bake at 400 F for 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally with a spatula to prevent sticking. Check to make sure the vegetables and sausage (especially the sausage) are cooked completely. Serve plain or with dipping sauce, such as Garlic Parsley Aioli (recipe follows).

Makes 4 servings

Garlic-Parsley Aioli

1 garlic clove
¼ teaspoon (or more) coarse salt plus more to taste
1 cup mayonnaise
pepper to taste
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
lemon juice to taste (optional)

1. Make a smooth paste with the garlic and salt. Stir the garlic-salt paste into the mayonnaise. Stir in the parsley. Add lemon juice to taste if desired and adjust seasonings. Chill until ready to serve.

Makes 1 cup

Other recipes like these: Roasted Vegetables; Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpeas and Olives; Cilantro Cream Dipping Sauce; Lime Herb Dipping Sauce

One year ago: Pumpkin Oatmeal Quick Bread with Dates and Pecans

Camping Soup

As I mentioned in the previous post, if I’m going to go camping, I’d like there to be some good food at the campsite. When getting ready for a recent camping trip, not only was I trying to put together a couple of good meals, but I also had to use up some ingredients in the refrigerator that I didn’t want to have greeting me in an altered form when I got back home. Among them were some beautiful fresh spinach from the CSA farm and some Italian turkey sausage. Since the weather was going to be reasonably cool and we planned to hike as much as we could, I figured a nice hearty soup would be welcome. The rest of the ingredients I needed were easily on hand, and all I had to do was take the time to make the soup.

Once the soup was cooked and cooled, I froze it in zip-top freezer bags (I double bag to guard against leaks) that I put in the cooler when packing for the trip. The frozen soup not only kept edible longer, but also helped to keep the rest of the food in the cooler nice and cold. I have a propane camp stove, so reheating the soup was trivial, especially since I actually remembered to bring a kettle. And it was as great as I hoped after a long day of hiking beautiful wooded trails.

I used fire-roasted tomatoes in this soup, which bumped up the campfire ambience, but you could use regular diced tomatoes, or even stewed tomatoes. I suppose you could use a spicier sausage, but I find that soups can get very spicy very easily, and the sweet sausage was quite flavorful. I ended up adding a bit of olive oil to the sausage when browning it for the soup because it was quite lean. If you find that your sausage is rendering enough fat to keep it from sticking to your pan (or if your pan has a particularly slick surface), you could leave it out.

We tend to think of nutrient-dense food like trail mix or granola bars as good hiking/camping food. My theory that soup would also fill that role seems to be sound. It was great to relax over a hot bowl along with some toasted whole wheat bread, and replenish the body after a good, hard day of hiking in the outdoors, as well as replenish what was taken by the mosquitoes.

Sausage and Spinach Soup
Since the salt content of chicken broth and canned tomatoes can vary, go easy on the salt initially, then add salt to taste as needed.

½ cup chopped onion
8 ounces sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed if necessary
1 tablespoon olive oil, optional
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
2 medium celery ribs, finely chopped
½ cup finely chopped red bell pepper
½ teaspoon coarse (kosher) salt
4 cups chicken broth (I used reduced sodium)
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes (I used fire-roasted)
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried basil
1 dried bay leaf
4 cups fresh spinach, chopped

additional salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine the onion and sausage in a large pot or Dutch oven and cook over medium heat. Add the olive oil if the sausage does not have enough fat to keep it from sticking to the pot. Cook, crumbling the sausage into small pieces, until the sausage is browned.

2. Stir in the carrot, celery, red bell pepper and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook about 1 minute more.

3. Add the chicken broth, diced tomatoes (do not drain them), oregano, basil and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently, covered, until the vegetables are tender, about 20-30 minutes.

4. Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the spinach and cook, uncovered a few more minutes, or until the spinach wilts. Taste the soup and add salt, pepper or other seasonings if needed.

Makes 4-6 servings

Another recipe like this one: Tomato and Roasted Pepper Soup

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