Hearty Chili with Sausage and Beans

I know what you're thinking: Chili? Seriously? It's spring - enough with the heavy winter meals. 

I get it. I do feel self-conscious posting a hearty wintery recipe when all my fellow bloggers seem to be touting strawberries and asparagus. But seriously, guys - strawberry season hasn't started around here. It might be warm outside (most of the time), but it's still pretty early in the season. Asparagus only started showing up at my local farmers market a few days ago. And, to be honest, I had planned to tell you about the nice little pasta dish I made last night with asparagus, shallots and ramps (yes, ramps!), but every one of my pictures turned out blurry (my pictures seem to deteriorate somehow between the camera screen and the photo editor - perfectly good images suddenly look hideous). So chili is what you get.

There's nothing wrong with chili in the springtime, though. Spring evenings can be quite cool - it's just as nice to be able to snuggle down on the couch with a bowl of steaming chili on a spring evening as a winter one. And I'm really wishing I had some leftovers today to stave off the chill of the cold, steady rain outside.

I like making chilis because you can't mess them up. Everything goes in one pot and, usually, the longer they simmer, the better they taste. I also like the variety of serving options. They can be eaten straight from the bowl, with chips or over rice. They invite lots of tasty toppings, too. This time I went light and topped mine with some sliced green onions and a big dollop of Greek yogurt, but you could go with sour cream, any kind of cheese, and even bacon. It's a total crowd-pleaser!

Hearty Chili with Sausage and Beans
Adapted from The Locavore's Kitchen.

2 tbsp olive oil
2 large shallots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 tbsp chili powder, divided
1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed

1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 28 oz can chopped tomatoes, with juices (if using home canned tomatoes, a quart will do)
1 c local beer (we used Yards' Philadelphia Pale Ale)
2 c kidney beans, cooked (or two 15 oz cans)
2 tbsp cornmeal (which serves as a thickener)
1 tbsp honey

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the shallots and saute 3-4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant. Add 3 tbsp chili powder and stir for an additional minute. Transfer the onion mixture to a separate bowl. Use a paper towel to (carefully!) wipe the excess spices off the bottom of the pot (otherwise they will quickly burn).

Increase the heat to medium-high and add the sausage. Cook for five minutes, stirring often to brown the meat on all sides. Return the onion mixture to the pot and stir everything together.

Add the remaining spices (the cumin, oregano, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper and 2 tbsp chili powder) and stir well. Then add the tomatoes and beer. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer 20 minutes.

Add the cornmeal and honey and stir to thicken the mixture. Add the beans and cook another 10 minutes. Taste and add additional seasonings, if required.

Serve with chips and a dollop of Greek yogurt and some green onions (or whatever else you dream up!).

Sausage and Kale Saute

I thought I would share one of the delicious dishes Jeff and I made with our farmers market finds from last week, discussed in this post. We took the sweet sausage from Beech Tree Farm in Hopewell and the kale from North Slope Farm in Lambertville (supplemented with some store-bought kale - we didn't have enough!) and made this delicious saute.

The pork was perfect for this recipe - flavorful without being too greasy. The sausage casings came off easily and the meat crumbled well in the pan. There's nothing like fresh sausage for something like this. I remember how I used to try to remove store-bought chicken sausages from their casings - it just doesn't work. I'm sticking with the good stuff from now on. Some of the kale was slightly bitter, but the sweetness of the red peppers balanced it out nicely. The original recipe included maple syrup, perhaps to balance the bitterness of the kale, but we didn't notice its presence at all, so I wouldn't bother including it from now on.

Overall, this is a bright, tasty dish - definitely my favorite kale recipe. The vivid colors brighten up a winter table, too!

Sausage and Kale Saute
Adapted from The Locavore's Kitchen.

2 tbsp olive oil, divided

1 lb sweet Italian sausage (if using links, remove the casings)

1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced (I used strips that I had frozen in the fall - this was probably my best preserving idea of the season. Next year, I plan on freezing a ton of these. Much better than paying $4-5/lb for off-season peppers, and they still taste great!)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb kale, chopped

2 tbsp water

salt and pepper to taste

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat (you will need a pot with high sides to contain all the kale). Add the sausage, breaking it up into small chunks, and cook 10-15 minutes, until thoroughly cooked and beginning to brown. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a paper-towel lined plate to drain.

Keep the pan on the heat and add the remaining tablespoon of oil. When it's hot, add the onion and red pepper to the pan. Saute until soft, 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant.

Add the kale and stir until slightly wilted, tossing with the oil and veggies. Add the reserved sausage and 2 tbsp water (to help steam the kale a bit) and stir well. Cover the pot and cook an additional 5-10 minutes, until the kale is tender. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Sausage and Spinach Hand Pies

Move over Hot Pockets! There's a new pastry-wrapped meat creation in town!

To be honest, I've never (to my present knowledge) eaten a Hot Pocket, but I still feel secure in my contention that this is far superior.

Wrap anything in flaky pastry and I'm on board. These puppies are good hot out of the oven (not too hot, though, or you'll burn your mouth on some spinach!) or at room temperature for lunch the next day. I've been in class until 12:30 most days lately, so my lunch tends to be eaten in the car on the long drive home. This is a great driving lunch because it only requires one hand (unlike some of the things I've attempted to eat on the way home . . . good thing Route 1 has tons of traffic lights!).

One thing I am changing from the original recipe is the egg wash - for some reason it called for watering down the egg wash. I think that's why our hand pies didn't turn a lovely shade of golden brown on top. Also, the original called for far too much Parmesan cheese on top, so I cut it down. Finally, next time I would roll out my dough more carefully, endeavoring to make actual circles. The odd shapes caused some problems when they were folded over and the edges didn't meet. (I can get away with this while making pie dough because I cut off the unruly edges!)

Sausage and Spinach Hand Pies
Adapted from Cooking Light April 2011.

olive oil cooking spray
2/3 c red potatoes, diced (the recipe says to peel them, but I might not bother next time since I like the skins)
1/3 c red bell pepper, diced
1/3 c yellow onion, diced
2 links Italian sausage, casings removed (I used local Simply Grazin' sausage that I bought at Whole Foods)
3 c baby spinach
2 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 single pie crust (you could use a store bought crust as the recipe suggests, but I don't see the point since they're so easy to make fresh - the recipe I use is here)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat the pan with cooking spray (please remove it from the burner before doing so!). Add potatoes, bell pepper and onion to the pan and cook 4 minutes, until onion begins to brown, stirring frequently.

Add the sausage and cook 4 more minutes, breaking up the meat as you stir. Stir in spinach and cook 2 minutes, until wilted. Stir in basil, salt and red pepper. Remove from heat.

Cut pie dough into four equal portions. Roll each portion into a 5" circle (like I said above, try to get yours rounder than I did!). Spoon about 1/2 c of the potato mixture into the center of each circle, leaving a 1/2" border.

Fold the dough over the mixture until the edges meet. Bring the bottom edge of the dough over the top edge and crimp the edges to form a rim (I did an ugly job of this - it's not as easy as it may sound).

Place hand pies on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake for 18 minutes or until golden brown.

Sausage, Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Finally, a recipe good enough to share! I've been cooking consistently this month, but I've either neglected to photograph my recipes or decided they weren't worth it. Tossing shredded carrots and broccoli with store-bought dressing doesn't warrant a blog post (seriously, Bon Appetit?). 

This is a great recipe for this time of year, when you're still craving winter's comfort food, but are trying to shake off some of its heaviness. I found that the spinach took up a lot of space in the filling that might otherwise have been taken up by cheese and sausage. That made for a much lighter shell. I think it's also a good recipe for busy people. Making the shells did take me forever - around two hours - but the recipe makes four dozen, which will last quite a while. And the prep time was my own fault. I took my time and went the long way about prepping some of my ingredients. For example, I used fresh baby spinach where the recipe suggested frozen, which meant I had to spend a good 40 minutes stacking tiny leaves and chopping them up. Halfway through I realized that this is what food processors are for. But really, the rhythmic nature of chopping can be relaxing, so I pushed through to the end. The sausage took a long time, too, because mine refused to crumble. It was a little tricky to get it out of the casing, but then it just sat in the pan, foiling my efforts to break it up. I ended up taking it out of the pan and dicing it, which also took awhile. Next time I'll go for butcher-fresh sausage, rather than the packaged national brand for easier crumbling. 

But despite these hangups, I ended the day with a lovely tray of shells baking in the oven and two more in the freezer for later. I find that stuffed shells freeze very well. I make them in my glass pyrex oven dishes, pop the lid on and freeze the whole thing. They'll just need a few extra minutes in the oven later on. 

And the immediate payoff, apart from a tray of shells for dinner, is a house smelling like sauteed sausage and onions and an oven full of sweet, concentrated tomato sauce (I love what time in the oven does to tomato sauce!) rather than burnt popcorn. That's a definite win.

Sausage, Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Adapted slightly from Simply Recipes.

12 oz package of jumbo shells

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3/4 lb sweet Italian sausage, casings removed and chopped

2-3 large garlic cloves, minced

1 egg

16 oz ricotta cheese (I think I used 22 oz, because I was trying to get rid of some leftovers, so I ended up with a bit more filling)

10 oz fresh spinach, rinsed well and chopped

1 c grated Parmesan

1 tsp dried basil (or 1 tbsp fresh)

1/4 c plain bread crumbs

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 jars tomato sauce

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the shells according to package directions. Drain, rinse in cold water, and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook about 5 minutes until softened. Add the sausage to the pan and cook about 5 more minutes (until no pink remains). Add the garlic and cook about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Remove from the heat.

In a very large bowl, beat the egg lightly. Then add the ricotta, 1/2 c Parmesan, basil, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Mix this well, then add the spinach and the sausage mixture. (You could combine all this at once, but I found it easier to work with the cheese mixture first, and then add all the extras. I think that gave me a more even mixture.) 

Spread some sauce in your baking dish (I used about half a jar of sauce for a 9 x 13 dish - my other two baking dishes were smaller, so I adjusted accordingly. The idea is just to give your shells something moist to sit on). Fill each shell with about 1 tbsp of cheese mixture and arrange in the pan (it's hard to judge how much each shell needs. I think 1 tbsp is a good start, and if there's any filling left over, you can go back and add it to any shells that look skimpy). Spread the remaining sauce on top.

  

When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375° F. Cover the pan with foil and bake about 30 minutes, until hot and bubbly (remember to add a few minutes for frozen shells). Remove foil, sprinkle with remaining 1/2 c Parmesan and bake uncovered for 10 more minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

Like I said earlier in the post, this made about 4 dozen for me, even with some broken shells. If you aren't making this for a large group, just freeze the rest until you need them.