Sausages - Not just for the grill

Betsy and I love having sausages around to cook with as an ingredient. They are our quick go-to meals and we enjoy making up easy variations with the seasonal veggies we have on-hand. 

Here is a link to all of our sausage recipes (we'll be adding a lot more this fall) 

Below, I'll talk about some favorites and share some cooking tips. 

First: Pan Fried

I love having our pre-cooked sausages so I don't have to worry about the exact temp of the inside. BONUS: They have organic ingredients I know I can trust (and of course the best raised meat in the state).  

They are quick and easy to sear up in a pan, just add some of your favorite fat and cook over fairly high heat to crisp up the outside. (Pro Tip: cut in half so they brown up more evenly)

From there, add any favorite side dish and you have a simple meat like these brats and brussle sprouts.  So easy, delicious and nutritious.

Having a quick meal that can be prepped in one pan is super nice. 

Oh -- we LOVE fried cabbage like this. It is inexpensive, super healthy and tasty as heck. 

Lunchable

Since most of our sausages are pre-cooked, I love being able to make cold-cut-style quick lunches to send with the kids or have for myself.

If your sausages aren't already sliced, just chop up along with some veggies, fruit, cheese and/or nuts to send along for a healthy balanced meal. 

Roasted 

Roasting one our sausages with other ingredients is a great way to add some texture and flavor without much effort. 

This includes things like super quick pizzas using bread, tortilla or potatoes as a base.  Really any sausage works, but of course Italian or pepperoni are classics. 

I often am asked why our roasted veggies taste so good.  The simple answer is butter.

Or coconut oil -- or better yet, bacon fat.  

These fats are GOOD for you -- don't fall for the sugar industry's fake 1960 era studies and lies.  The secret to good easy cooking is lots of fats like this. Don't skimp!

Oven Tips

I like to have the oven fairly hot, around 400 degrees and convect if possible. If you have enough fat on the pan, you can stir in the beginning to make sure everything is well coated and then just wait until the bottoms of the veggies are browned before stirring again.  You don't need to worry about sticking if you used enough fat. Usually veggies getting stuck to a pan is caused by too frequent stirring and/or not enough fat. 

Basic Pizza

It really is easy to make a quick pizza and I am always shocked how something so simple tastes so good with just a few quality ingredients. The 'pizza' image here was just some basic bread topped with our pepperoni, organic cheese and heirloom garlic. It took just a few minutes to throw together and would have worked with any of our sausages... I didn't even have tomato sauce!

Seriously, it was amazing good.

Get heirloom garlic while you can - it makes the BEST pizza!

With Eggs

Some of my favorite sausage recipes are with eggs. 

Members tell me things like this all the time:

"I just love frying the smoked brats, ham or summer sausage in a pan and scrambling with eggs for breakfast" -- Says Everyone Who Has Tried It

A simple variation is to take this scramble and wrap in a tortilla to make a breakfast burrito (see below)

Of course things like egg bakes or quiche are favorites.  Here are some great recipes: