Spicy Chicken Sausage and Veggie Quiche "crustless"

Great for those of you who are trying to cut out carbs. This crustless quiche is jam packed with delicious flavorful veggies and a yummy spicy chicken sausage.  You won't even miss the crust when you have this.  Great for breakfast, brunch, lunch or even a light dinner.

Ingredients:

5 links of spicy chicken sausage(I used the jalapeño chicken sausage from Trader Joes) you may substitute any sausage that you prefer.
1 package of frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained well
1 yellow squash, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced
6 eggs (or 8 egg whites)
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 13x9 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.  In a large  saucepan add about a tablespoon of olive oil and brown sausage links.  Once sausage is browned on all sides remove from pan, slice and set aside.  Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the hot saucepan and add in the yellow squash and zucchini slices and sauté on medium heat until slightly soft.  Next add the drained, chopped spinach to the pan and warm through.  Add back in the sliced sausage and cook contents for an additional 3 minutes.  Turn off heat and set pan aside to cool.  In a large bowl add in your eggs (or egg whites) and beat until frothy.  To the egg mixture add the cooled sausage and veggies and mix well.  Lastly, add in the shredded cheese and mix.  Pour quiche mixture into the prepared casserole dish and place in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes.  Quiche is done when lightly browned on top and firm to the touch in the center of quiche.   Slice into squares and serve hot.

Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya

I pulled out sausage for dinner the other night and I was about to make my usual sausage and peppers when I thought, "let's make something different".  I found this Amelia Durand recipe under the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network website for Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya and it sounded delicious.  I made quite a few changes however to use the ingredients I had on hand and even with all the changes this came out D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!  You can view the original recipe here but I think I'll stick with the way I made it because everyone loved it exactly as is.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound sausage, sliced ( I used sweet italian sausage but you can of course use kielbasa or andouille)
1/4 pound pancetta, cubed
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup diced celery
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 can Rotel tomatoes and chiles
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons tomato paste
6 cups chicken stock
3 cups long grain rice (I used long grain brown rice and needed to increase my cooking time 100%)
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 to 8 dashes tobasco
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 pound medium shrimp, deveined (20 to 24 count)

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, add the sausage and saute for 8 to 10 minutes, until browned. Remove the sausage to a bowl, and set aside.  Add the pancetta to the same pot and cook 6-8 until crispy. Remove to the bowl with the sausage and set aside.  Add the butter, onion, celery and peppers to the same pot and saute for 8 to 10 minutes, until the onion is translucent.  Add the tomatoes, garlic, oregano, thyme, and tomato paste and cook until all the vegetables and herbs are blended well.  Add the stock and bring to a rolling boil. Stir in the rice, and add the sausage, pancetta, salt, pepper and tobasco. Return to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. (if you are using brown rice simmer covered for 45 minutes)
Add  the parsley, the lemon juice and the shrimp, and stir well. Cover the pot, and remove from the heat and allow the jambalaya steam, for 15 minutes, before serving.

Shortcut Sausage and Peppers

Sausage and Peppers seems to be a crowd favorite in all of our families and although there aren't very many ingredients and it's fairly easy to make it can get a bit messy and be time consuming.  Nanci came up with this great short cut and I think it tastes just as good!  Nanci uses fresh onions and peppers but recently I decided to try it with frozen onions and frozen tri-colored peppers to see if I can make this even easier to throw together and it was delicious!  I might even go as far to say that it's better than our original recipe...

Ingredients:

1 package of Italian sweet sausage
1 - 12 oz bag frozen chopped onions (or one fresh medium onion sliced)
1 - 16 oz bag frozen sliced tri colored peppers (or 3 fresh peppers sliced)
1/4 cup of pasta sauce

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Spray a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.   Put onions and peppers into the casserole dish and place the sausage on top.  Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the sausage is browned.  Turn the sausage over and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes to brown other side.  Remove from oven and take out sausage and slice into 1/2 inch pieces and place back into the casserole dish with the onions and peppers.  Add the pasta sauce and stir to coat.  Place back in the oven for an additional 20 minutes or until desired doneness ( I like mine well done and browned and caramelized)
Linked to Country Pot Luck

Spicy Sausage and Pepper Calzone

This was a fun dinner to make, although I am not as good at rolling out pizza dough as I thought I would be. My dough was not exactly round. It was more of a free form shape, like those cool pools that you see in famous peoples backyards. But once it came out of the oven it looked pretty damn good. And the taste was fabulous. My kids loved it!!

Ingredients:

1 package hot Italian turkey sausage
2 large peppers sliced (I used yellow and orange)
2 small onions sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup marinara sauce
pizza dough (divided into 4 pieces)
8 oz package of shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice sausage, onions, and peppers. Place in a glass or ceramic baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in oven until caramelized, about 45 minutes. (sausage, peppers and onions should be browned and soft). Add marinara sauce and bake 10-15 minutes longer. Remove from oven and set aside. Roll out pizza dough into a round. Sprinkle 1/4 of the cheese in the middle of the dough. Place 1/4 of the sausage mixture on top of cheese. Fold over dough to form a semi circle. Tuck ends under. Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes or until dough is browned.

Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Spinach

Every once in awhile I go through my freezer and pantry and create a dinner from the ingredients that I find.  So this time I used, pasta shells, chicken sausage, spinach and a can of crushed tomatoes.  Voila Dinner!

Ingredients:

1 lb of pasta shells

8 oz frozen spinach (drained)

1-28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 lb of chicken sausage (casings removed)

1 tablespoon of minced garlic

1 small onion diced

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste 

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Preparation:

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in large skillet, add sausage and cook through.  Remove sausage, set aside.  Heat additional tablespoon of olive oil in the same skillet, add onions and cook until starting to brown.  Add 1/4 cup of white wine and deglaze pan but scraping up brown bits on the bottom of the pan.  Cook for 2 minutes and then add spinach and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add crushed tomatoes, parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper.  Add sausage back to tomato mixture and cook over med heat for 15 minutes.  Cook pasta, drain and add to sauce.  Add additional parmesean cheese if desired.

Sausage and Peppers

Tonight's Dinner - 1/5/11
















I Like to make this recipe with turkey sausage and whole wheat pasta. It requires very little oil so it is a yummy low fat meal. If you want you can spray the bottom of the pan with cooking spray and avoid the oil all together. I also like to mix the pasta in with the sausage and peppers before I serve it as you can see in the picture.

Ingredients:

2 lbs sweet Italian turkey sausage

3 large peppers, sliced (red/yellow/green)

1 T crushed garlic

1 large red onion, sliced

1/2 can of tomato paste

1/4-1/2 cup of white wine

olive oil

Preparation:

Coat the bottom of a heavy bottomed pan with olive oil. Over med/high heat, brown sausage on all sides and remove from pan. Pour in a little bit of white wine to deglaze the pan (use wooden spoon to scrap up all the bits). Put in garlic and onions and cook until soft and golden. Then add peppers and cook until soft. Add tomato paste and 1/4 cup white wine. Slice sausage into bite sized pieces and add back into the pan. Cover and cook for approximately 30 minutes. Serve over whole wheat pasta.