White Bean, Sausage, & Sweet Potato Cassoulet

This recipe came from a Prep Dish menu and I really enjoyed it. Every time I make it, I have to search back through my Prep Dish menus, so I'm finally putting it here for easy access. :)









Ingredients:
Approx 2 medium sweet potatoes
1-2 cans cannellini beans (rinsed & drained)
Beef or Chicken sausage (2-4 links) sliced
1/2 C Bread Crumbs (panko or GF, etc)
Diced onion
Minced garlic
Parmesan cheese
s&p
poultry seasoning

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Peel & microwave sweet potatoes to soften them a little. Allow to cool then dice into chunks.
3. Saute diced onions & garlic in a little oil until soft. Throw sliced sausage into skillet and heat through for approx 5 minutes.
4. In a medium casserole dish combine the diced sweet potatoes, onion/garlic & sausage mixture. Add in the cannellini beans (1-2 cans according to your liking). Season everything with s&p and a little poultry seasoning. Mix gently to combine.
5. In a small bowl combine bread crumbs, approx 2 TBS parmesan cheese, and 1/2 T olive oil. Sprinkle evenly over cassoulet. Cover & bake for 30-40 minutes until sweet potatoes are fork-tender.
6. Remove cover and add a little more parmesan cheese if needed, bake for an additional 10 minutes until the topping is browned.
7. Pairs well with sauteed spinach as a side and/or garlic toast. Enjoy!

Breakfast Pizza

I made this breakfast pizza today for my Sunday school class. Several people asked for the recipe, and I've often meant to upload the recipe to this site for safe keeping...so, here it is.  This recipe actually holds sentimental value for me. I uploaded the picture of the original recipe card which was written out for me by Lela Thomas, who has since passed away. Growing up I used to spend the night at my best friend's house & her grandmom made this for us once. I must have raved on and on about it  (even in my childhood) because she sent me home with the recipe! :) I've only tweaked it slightly. I use the Pillsbury ready made thin pizza crust, instead of crescent rolls. I've also added bacon to my toppings, but other than that, I use her recipe. It makes me think of Becky and her grandmother every time I make it! Love you Becky--I was so blessed to have you in my life growing up!

Ingredients:
1lb pork sausage
1 pkg crescent rolls (I used the Pillsbury Thin Pizza crust)
1 C frozen shredded hashbrowns
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
5 eggs
1/4 C milk (I omit the milk sometimes bc if the eggs are too runny, they'll run off the crust)
S&P to taste
2 TBS grated Parmesan cheese
*Cooked, crumbled bacon (I added this element in, it's not on the original recipe)

Directions:

• Cook the sausage in a skillet until browned, drain off excess fat.
• Separate crescent dough into 8 triangles, place on pizza pan, points toward center, press over bottoms & up sides to form crust, seal perforations (or if using Pillsbury thin crust pizza dough, unroll and form it to shape of your pan...side note: directions on can say to pre-cook, so I do this for about 5 minutes before topping)
• Spoon cooked, crumbled sausage over the crust.
• Sprinkle hash brown potatoes over sausage.
• Top with shredded cheddar cheese 
• In a bowl, beat eggs together & season to your liking with salt & pepper (this is also where you would add in the 1/4 C milk, but recently I've omitted the milk to make the eggs less runny)
• Pour the eggs over the sausage, potatoes, & cheese
• If using crumbled bacon, add it on top next
• Sprinkle the grated Parmesan over all
• Bake in oven at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or so...(I followed the directions on the Pillsbury can for how to cook their dough/pizza...it recommended the pre-baking and it calls for the pizza to be cooked at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or so) You may just have to play with the cooking process depending on what type of dough you are using, etc.

That's it! Hope you enjoy! And in Heaven one day you can tell Lela Thomas that she made a really great breakfast pizza. :)

Another Tortellini idea...

Sausage & Tortellini Soup

with Spinach

I ordered some mild italian sausage from our food company and needed a way to prepare it; I found this soup recipe & with the cold weather, thought I'd give it a try. Plus I'm on a new tortellini kick since I discovered the Buitoni whole wheat cheese tortellini (this stuff would be awesome with any kind of pasta sauce!) but it was especially good in this soup recipe.

The key to this recipe is in sauteing the onion and garlic in the rendered sausage fat to enhance the flavor of the broth--it rocks!

Ingredients:

1 TBS olive oil

1 lb italian sausage (sweet, mild, hot, whatever kind you prefer)

1 onion, chopped fine

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 C low sodium chicken broth

1 bay leaf (I omitted this)

1 9-ounce pkg cheese tortellini

3 C baby spinach (just eyeball it & add to your liking)

S&P to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil in dutch oven over medium high heat--cook sausages, rolling occasionally, until browned all over (about 8 min). Transfer to paper towel-lined plate and pour off all but 1 TBS fat from the pot.

2. Cook onion in sausage fat until softened. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add broth and bay leaf, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to boil.

3. Cut browned sausages into 1/2 inch rounds and add to pot. Stir in tortellini and simmer over medium heat until tender, 6-8min (I cooked my tortellini separately, according to pkg directions & then added it). Stir in spinach until just wilted. Season with s&p. Serve.

Maple Sausage Apple Balls

I made up a TON of these this weekend for a preschool parent breakfast this week. This recipe has been one of my favorite sausage ball recipes for a long time -- just slightly different than a regular one, but even yummier! I got the recipe off the maple sausage package a long time ago...when I bought the sausage this weekend, the recipe was still on the package! Enjoy!

1 package maple sausage
3/4 cup all purpose baking mix
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/3-1/2 cup grated granny smith apple
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375. Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl; stir well. Form into 1" balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes while still on the pan.

NOTE: Can be prepared ahead and frozen UNCOOKED. To bake from frozen, thaw on baking sheet approx 15 minutes. Then bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Another favorite soup!

Hearty Potato Leek Soup with Kielbasa sausage...yum!

I found this recipe in the same mag that I discovered my other favorite soup recipe in (Italian Bean Soup); I have decided it's another keeper!

Ingredients

8 oz kielbasa sausage, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds

3 TBS unsalted butter

2 lbs leeks, white & light green parts only, halved lengthwise and chopped (see note below)

1 lb red potatoes, scrubbed & cut into 3/4-inch chunks

1 TBS all-purpose flour

4 C low sodium chicken broth

S&P

Directions:

1. Brown kielbasa in Dutch oven over med-high heat, about 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate.

2. Add butter, leeks, and potatoes to empty pot and cook until leeks begin to soften, about 5 min. Stir in flour until absorbed, about 1 min. Slowly whisk in broth & bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium & simmer until vegetables are tender, 10-15 minutes.

3. Transfer 1 1/2 cups soup to blender and puree until smooth. Return to pot. Stir in kielbasa. Season with S&P. Serve.

Notes:

*Be sure to wash the leeks well to remove any grit or dirt (fyi, I found leeks in the produce section of walmart but until I discovered them I had planned to just use onions & some garlic...either would probably work)

*The recipe calls for just 8oz of the sausage--if you buy it in the pkg that comes with the two links it's only half of that pkg, but I went back and added in more sausage b/c it gives the soup so much flavor.

*I served this with a caesar salad & Pepperidge Farm cheese bread--they worked well together! Great comfort food! :)

*One last note--the recipe said that it was the pureeing of the soup base & the TBS of flour that made this soup thick & hearty in such a short amount of time.

Enjoy!

Maple Sausage Biscuit Wraps

I made these again this past weekend for a Fantasy Football breakfast draft. We have love these in our family. I got the recipe off a package of sausage right after Kevin and I got married...and I have made often ever since. They are good with regular sausage too, but the maple makes them extra tasty and unique! Enjoy!

12 oz Maple Sausage
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped apple (I usually use Granny Smith, but any will do)
1 12 oz cans refrigerated biscuits (I usually use buttermilk, but again, any will do as long as they aren't the pull/layer ones)

Preheat oven to 400. In skillet, brown sausage. Drain well. Remove from heat and stir in cheese, and apple. Separate dough into 20 biscuits and flatten each biscuit into a 5" circle. Spoon sausage mixture onto center of each biscuit. Fold dough in half over filling and press edges with fork to seal shut. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown.

*NOTE: I have made the sausage mixture up the night before and just stuffed them that morning to save time. They still taste great!

Pleasing Cheesy Potatoes with Sausage

This is the Potatoe and Sausage breakfast dish I served at our first Supper Club (Sunday brunch). Everyone liked it a lot and it is mine and Casey's favorite breakfast.
INGREDIENTS
1 (32 ounce) package tater tots
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of potato soup, undiluted
1 cup sour cream
1 can chopped green chiles
1/4 cup chopped onion (or I use 2 Tbsp of dried minced onions)
4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
DIRECTIONS
Arrange Tater Tots in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. In a bowl, combine the eggs, soup, sour cream, green pepper and onion until blended. Stir in the cheese. Pour over Tater tots. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Sausage Balls

Chantelle asked me to post this recipe so here it is!

1. Fry 1 pound of sausage until crumbly brown. Leave a little bit of grease.

2. Add 3 cups of Bisquick (don't sift)

3. Add 1 cup of Cheddar Cheese

4. Add about 3/4 cup water, add gradually

5. Roll into balls

Bake 350 degrees for about 20 minutes
These can be frozen unbaked