Pantry supper - Baked sausage casserole

Pantry supper

     For January 2014 I have participated in a No Spending Challenge group.  *sigh*  The ONLY good thing I am finding about Old Man Winter so far... is being trapped at home with The Boys having so many delayed or cancelled school days... it keeps me from stopping in a store to or from work.

     The heating bills have also increased and the incentive to stay on track in the challenge is strong.  Add the awareness of increased medical premiums, higher co-payments plus deductibles and I am on board to keep up the challenge in February.

     That all being said... the goal is no to very little grocery shopping.  Loaf bread, gallons of milk, dry cereal are about what is on the list once a week.  We had to add in ketchup and peanut butter since my 8 year old survives on those and I hadn't had a lot left in the pantry.

Baked sausage casserole

     My husband and I like to have sliced sausage with potatoes and green beans and onions sometimes.  The kids don't care for it, but like I said earlier they live on peanut butter, lol.  I wanted to stick to the challenge and hoped to cook something a little healthier, too.  That meant... the oven, and one of my cast iron skillets to help with a richer flavor.  I dug around in the pantry and found a can of whole kernel corn and carrots. I had leftover canned green beans in the fridge, and peas from our garden in the freezer.

Baked sausage casserole.  Before going in the oven.  

     We liked it.  The frozen peas I have found hold up better in casseroles than from a can, but I would have only had canned they would have been fine, too.  I was glad I had part of the sausage on the top and part on the bottom.  Some was nice and caramelized crispy and some soft and tender. If I hadn't had the long polish sausage to cut up, I would also have used little smokies if those were on hand. I like cutting the sausage in bit size rounds instead of the traditional angle cuts, everything ends up one bite size.  To me, a casserole isn't about needing a knife to eat it, it's about comfort food and easy eating.

Baked sausage casserole.  Hot out of the oven. 

Baked sausage casserole

Ingredients:
Frozen peas -two handfuls, frozen but broken loose from one another
Whole kernel corn -1 can drained
Green beans -2/3 can leftovers
Sliced carrots -1 can drained
1 package polish sausage -two large links sliced into thin medallions, or any sausage sliced, about 2 cups.

     Preheat oven to 350 F.  Medium to large cast iron skillet, gently wipe interior with a thin layer of oil as when seasoning it (the cleanup will be so much easier if you do this), and wipe one more time with a clean paper towel to assure excess oil removed.  Put the skillet in the oven to preheat while you assemble the casserole ingredients. Combine all vegetables and mix well.  Canned vegetables and the sausage have more salt than home canned/frozen foods so I did not add extra -I decided that could be added to taste at the table and keep the dish a bit healthier.
     After about 10 minutes, carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven.  Layer half of the sausage in the bottom of the skillet. Cover with the vegetable mixture.  Finally, layer with the remainder sausage.  Pour in enough water halfway up the side of the skillet.  Turn up the oven temperature to 400 F.
     Cover the skillet loosely with aluminum foil.  Bake about 20 minutes as the meat used was precooked. Then, remove the foil and bake the dish another 15-20 minutes until the some of the top sausage layer is noted to be caramelized to your liking.  Remove from the oven, and loosely recover with the foil until ready to serve (at least 10 minutes).

Baked sausage casserole. 

I do believe I will make this again and not the skillet method. The cleanup of the baked dish compared to when I have usually fried it was wonderful.  And... it surely is healthier since there was no frying involved.

If you try it... leave me a review.