Baked Eggs with Red Sauce

One day I was pursuing through Pinterest and came across a dish that looked amazing. It was in a cast iron skillet with a red sauce and baked eggs. I didn't even click on the recipe to read about it, but the image stuck in my mind. (It was called shakshuka for those interested.) That being said, the image stuck with me for a couple of days. Last night as I lay in bed trying to fall asleep, I thought about it and starting thinking, perhaps I could make something using it as an inspiration point with the ingredients already in my house. So this is what I made, I think it was really good. Feel free to change/omit or completely do your own thing! I'm sure I broke a few culinary laws in making this.

Baked Eggs in a Red Sauce

1 package of breakfast sausage
1 orange (or whatever color bell pepper or spicy peppers if your prefer)
half a bunch of kale
1 can of pureed tomatoes
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 stick of butter
lots of parmesan
mozzarella if you like
1/2 tsp of garam masala spice
1/4 tsp of ground cardamom
4 eggs

In a large skillet brown your sausage. When it is mostly cooked add diced bell pepper and kale. Cook until vegetables are tender.

In a small sauce pot mix tomatoes, cream, butter and spices. Bring to a boil and let cook until it thickens a bit, by reducing. Add parmesan cheese and salt and pepper. (Don't salt before reducing or it will be too salty!)

Pour red sauce over sausage and mix. I threw in some chunks of mozzarella too. Then either butter some ramekins or if you are using an over proof skillet use that. If you are using ramekins, fill half way with tomato sausage mixture an carefully crack an egg on top. Or carefully crack eggs around the skillet. Bake at 350 for twenty minutes or until egg whites are cooked through and egg yolks are still runny. (It may take less time, because I prepped the sauce up ahead of time so it was cold when I put it in the oven.)

What's for Dinner at My House: Sausage, Potato & Coleslaw

Yes, this is a bit (okay, more than a bit) carb heavy for a girl who is supposedly going low carb. I keep waffling on that. One day I'm low-carb, one day I'm moderate carb and the next I'm just "grain-free" but not actually low carbs. That's how I can justify potatoes, which are like one of my favorite food groups. (Potatoes should be their own food group, should they not?) Now, the loaf of white french bread hiding under the (nitrate free) sausage, slathered in homemade mayo? Yeah, um... no excuses for that lovely crunchy carb on my plate. The main thing for me is to try as hard as possible to stick with real food ingredients.

The coleslaw is a bigger portion than it looks, it's called perspective. I did NOT have three times as much as potatoes as cabbage... or maybe I did. Anyway, it's what we had for dinner and it hit the spot. By the way a few twists to mention: the coleslaw I used up the rest of the homemade Caesar Salad dressing I made the other night. The other twist is that the potatoes are the Salt & Vinegar recipe I tried out from Noble Pig's blog and man are they GOOD.

So... what's for dinner at your house?
-Amanda

Sausage and Chard

I needed a quick and easy dinner last night and I needed to use up some of the fresh greens I had in the refridgerator. I thought that this simple dinner would be terrific. And it was pretty tasty. I actually liked the leftovers this morning with a farm fresh fried egg on top better though...
-Amanda

Sausage & Chard

1 lb of your favorite pork sausage (I used one from a local farm)
3 stalks of chard
4 handfuls of fresh baby spinach
8 oz button mushrooms, cut
1 small onion diced
2-3 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
1 tsp of maple syrup (Grade B is the best)

In a large skillet, cook diced onion and garlic in either a dab of lard or butter. Stir until they are translucent and soft. Add sausage, turn up the heat and brown. Add chopped mushrooms. When mushrooms are browned add chopped chard and cut up spinach. Drizzle in the apple cider vinegar and maple syrup. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Serves about 4, but leftovers with a fried egg on top are really, great!

Sausage Stuffed Pablano Peppers

This isn't a very glamorous looking dish I'm afraid. I'm made shrimp stuffed pablano's a while back that were very delicious, but tonight I wanted to try sausage. They came out great too! I wish I had taken a photo of my girls dish, but I forgot. I used a cookie cutter to cut out a heart shape sausage patty and heart shaped bell pepper. I cooked the sausage and bell pepper and stacked them with a bit of cream cheese smeared to hold them together. They ate the sausage and took one tiny bitty bite of the bell pepper... obviously a vegetable that we need to work on around here.
-Amanda

Sausage Stuffed Pablano Pepper with Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce

2 pablano peppers
1/2 cup freshly grated cobly jack cheese
4 oz cream cheese
1 tbsp heavy cream
4-6 oz breakfast sausage
1/2 small onion

Blacken the outside of the pablano peppers. You can do this either by sitting them over the open flame of your stove or under the broiler turning every few minutes. When they are completely blackened remove to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let them steam until they are cool enough to touch. Remove skin (which peels right off) and cut a slit into each pepper. Remove seeds carefully and set aside.

Saute breakfast sausage and onion in a small skillet until onion is carmalized and sausage is cooked through. In a medium size bowl, mix grated cheese, cream cheese and heavy cream with a fork. Mash it up to combine, the heavy cream helps mix it together. When the sausage and onions have cooled a bit, add them to the cheese mixture. Stuff each pepper with half of the mixture. Place in a baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350. You can wrap them in foil to help keep them together or use toothpicks. I didn't bother this time around.

Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce

1 can of Fire Roasted Tomaotes (I use Organic because the non-organic kind had some ingredient that I don't want to eat... MSG or some chemical, I don't remember)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp fresh oregnao or 1 tsp dried
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 tbsp olive oil

Combine everything in a pot and simmer until tomatoes break down and make a nice sauce.

Butternut Squash Pizza

I was reading my favorite cooking/nutrition blogs a few days ago, and came across this idea for a recipe. I wish I could give credit, because these are REALLY good. I did add caramelized onions and tomato sauce to the recipe, but the idea to use the squash this way wasn't mine. Anyway, this is a must try recipe, it is really terrific!
-Amanda

Butternut Squash Pizza

1 butternut squash with the longest neck possible
1 lb of bulk sweet Italian sausage (no nitrates added, no high-fructose corn syrup)
1 block of feta cheese
1 large onion
olive oil, salt and pepper
favorite tomato sauce

Pre-heat oven to 375. Peel butternut squash and cut into 1/2" disks, be careful to make them the same thickness so they cook evenly. Rub each disk with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake on a cookie sheet for 20-25 minutes until you can easily pierce with a fork. Meanwhile, brown sausage in a skillet. Slice onion into very thin slices and saute them in a little olive oil (or bacon grease) while the sausage is a different skillet. Cook the onions on medium  heat for 20-30 minutes.

Remove butternut squash from the oven and switch the oven to broil. Assemble the pizzas by placing a bit of sausage on each disk, top it with a bit of onion and then the feta cheese. Place under the broiler for 4-5 minutes until feta starts to brown. Serve on top of some tomato sauce. It'd be great with some fresh basil on top, but I'm not sure if butternut squash and basil are ever in the same season? Anyway, this was a huge hit for our family and I think I'll hide the leftovers!

Butternut Squash & Sausage Pasta

I bought a beautiful butternut squash a couple of weeks ago and I've been eyeballing it just trying to decide on what I want to make with it. I love squash paired with breakfast sausage. I'm not sure why but the flavors go really well together, I think. I put this together in my head, not really sure how it would turn out, but I think with a bit of adjustments its a winner! Next time I'll either roast the squash in the oven before I add it to the sauce or dice it into smaller pieces. (By the way, this isn't a super quick recipe! The squash takes about 15-20 minutes to peel and dice, prepped ahead of time, the dish itself took about 40 minutes to cook.)
-Amanda

Butternut Squash & Sausage Pasta

1/2 lb pasta (I used bow-tie)
1 package of breakfast sausage (I used low-fat)
1/4 onion
3 cloves of garlic (frequent readers know I LOVE garlic)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp oregano (I would have used sage, but didn't have any)
1 cup milk + 2 tbsp cornstarch OR 1 cup of heavy cream
1 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper

Cut ends off of squash and peel the thick skin off. Cut lengthwise scoop out seeds, and discard them. Cut squash into small cubes.

In a large saute pan (that has a lid) saute onions and garlic in the olive oil. Cook until caramelized to really develop the onions flavor. Add breakfast sausage and break it up into little crumbles. When sausage is mostly cooked through, add squash. Season with salt, pepper and oregano. Stir the squash occasionally but let it brown a bit. Set water to boil for pasta and cook pasta at the same time as sauce. While squash is cooking mix milk, chicken broth and cornstarch. Pour over squash. Cover and let simmer on low until squash is fork tender. You may need to add more chicken broth if it gets to thick.

Sausage & Potatoes

This is one of those easy 30 minute or less one skillet dinners. I usually have the ingredients on hand and it's great for those busy nights.

Sausage & Potatoes

Package of Kielbasa Sausage (I use turkey)
1 bell pepper (any color)
1/2 an onion
3-4 small potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp ground thyme
salt & pepper
dash of garlic seasoning (or minced garlic added at the last minute of cooking)

Cut potato into 1/2 inch thick moons. Try to make them all the same size so they cook at the same rate. Pour Olive Oil in a very large non-stick skillet on med-high heat. Add potatoes. Dice bell pepper and onion into 1" pieces and add to potatoes. Stir every few minutes. Chop sausage into rounds and add to skillet. Add seasonings: worcestershire sauce, thyme, salt and pepper and garlic seasoning. Let cook for 20-25 minutes stirring occasionally. Making sure to flip potatoes over. When sausage is cooked and potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, it's done.
-Amanda