Tag Archives: sausage

Hungarian Pepper Stew

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In lecsó—the Hungarian version of ratatouille or shakshuka—paprika is the star and not merely a seasoning. The end result is a tangle of tender peppers, hunks of sausage, juicy tomatoes, and lightly caramelized onions all bathed in a sauce that builds itself—rich, piquant and vibrantly red.

To emulate robustly smoky and savory Hungarian sausage, use two grocery store staples: bacon for rich smokiness and kielbasa for texture and spice. Sweet and subtly hot, Hungarian wax peppers are the traditional go-to, though hard to find in the U.S. In their place, an easier-to-source blend of yellow bell peppers and mildly spicy banana, cubanelle or Anaheim peppers are used.

Paprika’s earthy-sweet notes complement both the peppers and sausage, while giving the stew an especially luscious consistency. To round out the meal, serve with crusty bread, but it also is delicious spooned over rice, mashed potatoes or nokedli, Spätzle-like Hungarian dumplings.

TIP: Don’t add the tomatoes until the end of cooking. Their freshness and bright acidity balance the richness of the stew.

In the end, it seemed a bit “watery” to us, and given that a lot of the vegetables release moisture, the amount of water at 1 1/2 cups is too much and could be scaled back to 3/4 cup. But the overall flavors were delicious! We served ours with cooked spaetzle, but you could also serve over rice or mashed potatoes.

Hungarian Pepper Stew

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 8 oz. kielbasa or other smoked sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced into ¼-inch half-moons
  • 1 Tbsp. grapeseed or other neutral oil
  • 2 oz. bacon, chopped
  • 1 medium yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
  •   Kosher salt
  • 2 medium yellow bell peppers (about 1 lb. total), stemmed, seeded and cut into ¾-inch pieces
  • 4 banana peppers or 3 cubanelle or Anaheim peppers (about 1 lb. total), stemmed, seeded and cut into ¾-inch pieces
  • 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 tsp. sweet paprika, divided
  • ¾ tsp. hot paprika or ¾ tsp. sweet paprika plus ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
  • 1 lb. ripe tomatoes, cored and chopped

Directions

  1. In a large Dutch oven over medium-­high, combine the sausage and oil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a plate; set aside.
  2. Reduce to medium, add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes.
  3. Add the onion and ¼ teaspoon salt; cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
  4. Add both types of peppers, the garlic, 1 teaspoon of the sweet paprika, the hot paprika and ½ cup water. Scrape up any browned bits, then cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until the peppers begin to soften, about 3 minutes.
  5. Stir in 1½ cups water, cover partially, and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the peppers are fully softened, 12 to 15 minutes.
  6. Stir in the tomatoes, sausage and remaining 1 tablespoon sweet paprika. Cook, partially covered, until the tomatoes release their juices but have not broken down, 3 to 5 minutes. Taste and season with salt.

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Recipe adapted by Courtney Hill for Milk Street

Bangers with Onion Gravy

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Ever eat Bangers and Mash that left you underwhelmed? So this version found in Milk Street Magazine, enticed us to want to try making it on our own. It’s clearly not a complicated recipe, and the flavor profile looked downright yummy. So after ordering the Marmite online, and receiving it a few days later, we took the plunge.

Great bangers and mash with onion gravy, the iconic British pub staple, revolves around plump, well-browned links napped with an ultrasavory sauce. Searing the sausages ensures that the links develop attractive, flavorful browning; steaming cooks them through gently so that they are plump and juicy.

Adding the onions (thin-sliced so that they softened quickly) to the pan to steam with the sausages jump-starts their cooking. Continuing to sauté them after the sausage comes out further softens them and caramelizes their sugars; doing so also develops a deep, flavor-packed fond on the bottom of the skillet.

Deglazing the pan with a highly seasoned beef broth captures the fond, and simmering the onions in the broth tenderizes them more and concentrates the flavor of the gravy. A cornstarch slurry and butter, whisked in just before serving, gives the gravy the requisite viscosity, shine, and richness.

To capture every bit of that savory flavor base, deglaze the pan with beef broth that is seasoned with dry mustard, rosemary, thyme, and Marmite the glutamate-rich British yeast extract that infuses the gravy with meaty fussed-over flavor. Marmite is sold at most grocery stores or easliy accessible online.

If Cumberland sausage is unavailable, you can substitute bratwurst or any mildly spiced fresh pork sausage. For the best-tasting gravy, cook the onions until a dark fond forms in the skillet. Serve the sausages and gravy over your favorite mashed potato recipe.

Bangers with Onion Gravy

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 1½ lbs. Cumberland sausage (6 links)
  • 2 onions, halved and sliced thin (3 cups)
  • ½ cup water plus 1 Tbsp., divided
  • 2½ cups beef broth
  • 1 tsp. dry mustard
  • 1 tsp. minced fresh thyme
  • ½ tsp. minced fresh rosemary
  • 1¼ tsp. sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. Marmite
  • ½ tsp. pepper
  • ¼ tsp. table salt
  • 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
  • 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 2 pieces
  • 1 tsp. red wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley

Directions

  1. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Arrange sausages in pan and cook, turning once, until browned on 2 sides, about 5 minutes. Move sausages to 1 side of skillet. Add onions, evenly distributing around bottom of pan, and nestle sausages on top. Add ½ cup water and immediately cover. Cook, turning sausages once until they register between 160 and 165 degrees and onions have softened, about 10 minutes.
  2. While sausages cook, whisk broth, Marmite, mustard, thyme, and rosemary in 4-cup liquid measuring cup until Marmite dissolves.
  3. Transfer sausages to plate and tent with aluminum foil. Make sure onions are spread evenly; cook without stirring until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes (if onions have not browned, increase heat to medium-high). Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender and well browned, and dark fond forms on bottom of skillet, 3 to 5 minutes longer. Stir in sugar, pepper, and salt and cook for 1 minute.
  4. Add broth mixture, increase heat to medium-high, and bring to boil. Cook, scraping up any browned bits from bottom and sides of skillet and stirring back into sauce, until sauce is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Combine cornstarch and remaining 1 tablespoon water in small bowl. Whisk cornstarch mixture into sauce and cook until sauce is glossy and has consistency of heavy cream, about 2 minutes.
  5. Off heat, whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time. Stir in vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Adapted from a recipe by Steve Dunn for Cook’s Illustrated

Rustic Sausage and Fennel Meatloaf with Gravy

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A few years back, Fine Cooking published an article showcasing a variety of meatloaf recipes. It also instructed how to build your own loaf based on items from specific categories. From those, I made this rustic version, which is a blend of the two. It was surprisingly light and not dense as some meatloaves can be.

We also wanted a gravy, so, in lieu of a loaf pan, we cooked the meatloaf in a large, heated cast-iron skillet to facilitate browning on the bottom as well as the top and sides. When finished cooking, this provided some tasty drippings for the base of the gravy.

Of course, since this serves up to eight meals, we sliced one half for two separate dinners, freezing the other half for another time.

Rustic Sausage and Fennel Meatloaf with Gravy

  • Servings: 8-10
  • Difficulty: moderate
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Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp. canola or olive oil, divided
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped small
  • 1/2 small fennel bulb, core removed and chopped small (save some fronds for garnish, if desired)
  • 3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 3/4 cup dry white wine
  • 4 oz. medium-coarse white bread, such as Italian or French, cut into 2-inch pieces (about 2-1/2 cups)
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2/3 lb. bulk sweet sausage
  • 2/3 lb. ground beef
  • 2/3 lb. ground veal
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • Kosher Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Gravy

  • Pan drippings from meatloaf
  • 4 Tbsp. butter
  • 3 cups beef broth, heated
  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 3/4 tsp. thyme, minced
  • 6 Tbsp. flour
  • 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Directions

  • Heat 2 Tbs. of the oil in a 10- to 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat. Cook the onion, fennel and garlic, stirring frequently, until softened and just beginning to brown, about 8 minutes.
  • Add the white wine, and simmer briskly, until almost dry, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool until warm.
  • In a shallow dish that holds it in a single layer, soak the bread in the milk, flipping once, until soggy but not falling apart, 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the coarseness and freshness of the bread. Lightly squeeze a handful of bread at a time to remove some of the milk (it should be wet but not drenched). Finely chop and add to the bowl with the onion mixture.
  • Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375°F.
  • Add the beef, veal, and sausage and eggs to the onion mixture. Scatter the Parmigiano, and parsley over the meat, and then sprinkle with the Worcestershire, 2-1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Use your hands to gently mix all the ingredients until just combined; try not to compact the mixture as you do this.
  • Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large cast-iron skillet. Form a rectangular block from the meatloaf mixture that will fit into your skillet. Carefully transfer the meatloaf into the hot skillet and put the skillet into the preheated oven. Bake until an instant-read thermometer registers 160°F in the center of the meatloaf, 40 to 55 minutes. (Ours was done at 45 minutes.) Remove the meatloaf to a platter and cover with foil while you make the gravy.
  • Add enough butter to the pan drippings to equal 6 tablespoons. (We had 2 tablespoons in the pan so we added 4 tablespoons of butter.) Sauté the minced shallot in the fat and drippings until it softens.
  • Add garlic and thyme and sauté another 30 seconds.
  • Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in hot broth and Worcestershire sauce. Scrape up any browned bits and smooth out lumps.
  • Simmer gravy 10-15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.
  • Arrange 1-inch slabs of meatloaf on the platter, top with gravy. Serve extra gravy at the dinner table.
Serve with mashed potatoes and a side veg.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Loosely adapted from a recipe by Allison Ehri Kreitler for Fine Cooking

Sausage-Cheddar Balls

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Party time! While these look amazingly like mini-meatballs, they are actually biscuits! This reinterpretation of meatballs combines breakfast sausage, cheddar cheese, and onion for a very flavorful holiday appetizer, enough for a crowd of hungry folks.

You can opt to serve them alone or with your choice of dipping sauces, such as mustard or barbecue sauce. Our opinion was that they packed enough flavor by themselves, so a dipping sauce didn’t seem necessary.

The only change we made was using one small onion as opposed to half of a large one. Unfortunately, the balls sat in the oven a bit too long while we tended to other things so the bottoms got a touch crusty—which some guests actually preferred!

Sausage-Cheddar Balls

  • Servings: 60 balls
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
  • 1/4 tsp. ground pepper
  • 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 2 cups grated sharp cheddar (1/2 lb.)
  • 1 lb. bulk breakfast sausage
  • 1/2 large yellow onion, grated on large holes of a box grater
  • 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and baking powder. Add cheddar and toss to coat.
  3. Add sausage, onion, and butter. With your hands, mix until well combined and roll mixture into 1-inch balls.
  4. Place balls, 1/2 inch apart, on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until balls are golden and cooked through, 25 minutes. Serve warm.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Recipe by Martha Stewart Living

Sausage with Cabbage and Fingerlings

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This sheet pan dinner actually uses two sheets, but is quite simple and takes only about 45 minutes. It is finished with a decadent brown butter and crisp sage leaves. Any type of sausage links or bratwurst will work, so choose whatever the family prefers.

Not all of our cabbage wedges ended up with some core to hold them together, so we stuck a toothpick through the centers where needed. The directions indicate to let the excess oil drip off the cabbage back into the bowl for the potatoes, but there was hardly any extra so we just added more olive oil for dredging the fingerlings.

The garlic cloves are slightly smashed but left unpeeled. This prevents them from scorching. Afterward, you can either peel the skins and add to the platter (our choice), or discard the cloves altogether.

Sausage with Cabbage and Fingerlings

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1⁄4 cup olive oil, more if needed
  • 1 small green cabbage, cut into 8 wedges through the core
  • 1 1⁄4 lb. fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise
  • 6 unpeeled garlic cloves, lightly crushed
  • 4 fresh sage sprigs
  • 1⁄2 tsp. salt
  • 1⁄2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 uncooked bratwurst or sausage links
  • 1⁄4 cup butter
  • 20 small sage leaves

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
  2. In a large bowl, toss the cabbage wedges in the oil. Lay them on their sides on a foil-lined baking sheet, letting the excess drip back into the bowl.
  3. Toss the potatoes in the remaining oil (if there is any, if not, add more oil to the bowl); again letting the excess drip back into the bowl. Set the bowl aside.
  4. Place the potatoes cut-sides down onto a second foil-lined baking sheet. Nestle three garlic cloves and two sage sprigs in each pan. Cover the pans with foil and roast for 20 minutes.
  5. Remove the foil from the pans. Lightly prick the sausages, toss them in the remaining oil in the bowl, and add to the pan with the cabbage. Roast 15 minutes more.
  6. Turn the cabbage, potatoes and sausage and continue roasting until the vegetables are tender and golden, and the sausages are cooked through (160°F), about 5 minutes more.
  7. Transfer everything to a large platter and tent with foil.
  8. In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat until foam just subsides. Add the sage leaves, and cook until the butter is brown and nutty, and the sage is crisp, 30 to 60 seconds.
  9. Spoon the sage butter over contents of platter and serve immediately.

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Recipe from Fine Cooking