The alluring temptation of a one-skillet meal, what cook can resist?
I’ve seen this recipe many times, many places, had the ingredients on hand, and plunged in. The original has just 5 ingredients ~ I cooked it with 7 ~ added mushrooms and black pepper.
A lot of recipes for mostaccioli call for 5 or 6 Italian sausage links and then tell you to remove the casing before cooking. I don’t know about anyone else, but why bother… just buy the sausage in bulk form to make the job easier.
This recipe makes a lot of mostaccioli ~ note the size of the baking dish! It’s great for a small group and is perfect for a potluck; or, half would freeze well for a later meal. This is easy and delicious and gives you that satisfied feeling after eating it. Use jarred pasta sauce if you want to make it even easier. It’s delicious!
I always knew good things
come from Ohio. I did! ☺
I came
across this recipe in the little cookbook Farm and Foods of Ohio by Marilou
Suszko and have also seen many variations of it over the internet. Ina Garten even cooked it on the “Barefoot
Contessa.”
Italian sausages; hot or
sweet, are delicious things ~ combine them with some luscious grapes and you
have a mouthwatering dish.
The grapes
pop and burst their sweet juices as they cook slowly scattered around the
sausages.
The sauce is excellent, but
there’s just not enough of it so I doubled it and it could even be
tripled.
I mixed red and green grapes ~
don’t bother; you won’t be able to differentiate the colors or taste after
cooking.
This is a delicious dish
that I’m glad I finally tried and you should try it too! It contains the simplest of ingredients which
yields the most amazing flavor you can imagine!
Hot and Sweet
Roasted Italian Sausages
with Grapes
Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds hot Italian sausage
1-1/2 pounds sweet Italian sausage
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2-1/2 pounds red or green seedless grapes, stemmed (6 to 7 cups)
8 tablespoons dry red wine
6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Method:
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.
Prick the sausages with a fork and add them to the boiling
water.
Boil gently for 8 minutes and drain. Set aside.
Melt the butter in a large roasting pan over low heat.
Add the grapes to the pan and toss to coat them with the
butter.
With tongs, transfer the parboiled sausages to the pan and push
them down into the grapes so that the sausages will not brown too quickly.
Roast the sausages and grapes in the preheated oven, turning the sausages once,
until the grapes are soft and the sausages have browned, 20 to 25 minutes.
With a slotted spoon, transfer the sausages and grapes to a
heated serving platter.
Place the roasting pan on top of the stove over a medium-high flame and add the
balsamic vinegar. Stir to scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan
and cook the vinegar and juices until they are thick and syrupy.
Pour the sauce over the sausages and grapes and serve immediately, accompanied
with mashed potatoes.
This is unique and delicious!!!
A keeper!!!
Be sure to visit my
friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips and recipes.
Was there such a thing as a “foodie” back in the 50’s? If there was, I was definitely one of them at a young age because this dish really got my attention.
I vividly remember going to visit some family friends, Helen and Charles, on Catawba Island, by Lake Erie years ago when I was young. Swimming and boating on Lake Erie was great but what I really loved was the lasagna that Helen made. Mom did not cook this type of food when I was growing up and it was love at first bite for me. She had to get this recipe!
Even though this lasagna recipe is a little time consuming; believe me, it is well worth the effort. It has thick layers, is super cheesy with a great tomato sauce and lots of spicy meat ~ Italian sausage, pork sausage and ground beef.
The result of Helen’s recipe is amazing and the best lasagna ever! I love Italian food and so does Bill. I forgive him now of years ago driving all around Europe ~ only to end up at the border of Italy several times ~ and never actually visiting the country. That’s really another story…
Thanks to Helen for the recipe and to Mom for getting it! It is the best!
Helen’s Lasagna
Ingredients:
1 pound Italian sausage
1 pound pork sausage
1 pound ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon dried basil
1½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 pound can (2 cups) stewed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste, 1-1/3 cup
8 ounces lasagna noodles, about 7
3 cups small curd cottage cheese, cream style
2 beaten eggs
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons parsley flakes
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced thin
Method:
Brown meat slowly, spoon off excess fat.
Add next 7 ingredients.
Simmer uncovered until sauce is thick, 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Cook noodles in boiling water until tender.
Drain, rinse in cold water.
Meanwhile, combine cottage cheese with eggs, seasonings and Parmesan.
Place half of cooked noodles in a 13 x 9 x 2” pan, baking dish.
Spread half of cottage cheese mixture over noodles.
Arrange half of mozzarella over all.
Spread half of meat sauce on top of mozzarella.
Repeat layers.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
Let stand 15 minutes before cutting into squares.
Filling will set slightly.
Serves 8-12
Without a doubt, one of my favorite recipes! It’s delicious!
Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes and cookbook giveaway!
We may talk turkey at the Thanksgiving table but, what we really crave is stuffing or dressing, as I grew up calling it. No Thanksgiving meal would be complete without a great stuffing. It is definitely my favorite part of the dinner.
The recipe is an adapted Chicago Tribune recipe and is a re-post from when I first started this blog ~ I want to share it again as it is the absolute best stuffing that my family and I love. It has honors as our traditional stuffing. By adding Italian sausage, apples, pecans and Triple Sec, it is a moist and flavorful stuffing ~ distinctive from all others.
Just one bite of this delicious stuffing will be enough for a chorus of “aahs” around the dinner table – it’s that good! Give it a try and it could be your traditional stuffing!
It is incredibly delicious, the ultimate stuffing!
Just one bite of this delicious stuffing will be enough for a chorus of “aahs” around the dinner table --- it’s that good!
The Ultimate Stuffing w/Dried Cherries and Apples
Servings: 8
This is truly the ultimate stuffing. It's always a favorite on our Thanksgiving table along with the turkey! It's delicious!
This stuffing can be made one day ahead. Refrigerate until ready to bake and add another 10 to 15 minutes baking time, until stuffing is heated through.
Add some spice into your next barbecue with quick and delicious Italian sausage! Just light the grill, throw on a few sausages. What could be easier? There is an art to it though and Bill has it down pat!
The problem is they may burn easily. I used to parboil them in water before Bill grilled them and then realized that even if a little beer is added to the water, all the parboiling did was pull the flavor out of the sausages and make flavored water in the pot.
Now they go straight from the refrigerator to the grill. Bill’s secret to grilling the Italian sausage is to grill them on low heat. It keeps the flavor in and cooks the middle perfectly. And he uses tongs, no forks! Once the skin is pierced, you’re in for some flare ups which leads to burnt sausages. It takes a while longer to grill them this way but, the appearance is great and they’re packed with delicious flavors.
Of course, sautéed red peppers are almost mandatory for topping Italian sausage sandwiches! I go for hot Italian sausage, Bill likes the mild. They’re great and grill them up Bill’s way for the best Italian sausage and pepper sandwich!
Grilled Italian Sausage and Peppers
Ingredients:
6 Italian sausages
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 large white onion, sliced
1 small tomato, cut into wedges
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Method:
Slow-cook the sausages over low grill heat.
In a skillet, heat olive oil.
Add peppers and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
Place onions in with peppers.
Add remaining ingredients and sauté for about 3 minutes.
Cook until onions are limp.
Assemble Italian sausage on a bun, adding pepper mixture.
Top with horseradish sauce or mustard.
Ummmm, gooood!
Visit my friend, Linda’s wonderful blog, My Kind of Cooking, for a chance to win her great cookbook!
Love that Italian sausage and this time I wanted it cooked inside instead of on the grill. Good thing that it was made last night because today they are predicting the heat index to be around 105! So it will definitely be back to the grill tonight.
I didn’t grow up eating a lot of pasta; just the usual macaroni and cheese, spaghetti and meatballs and occasionally lasagna. There is such a wide variety of pasta now, it’s amazing and I like them all.
We definitely never had Italian sausage back then when living on the farm in Ohio and having our own pork sausage made. That is a whole other story from years ago. My grandfather had a great recipe for making pork sausage and it was a wonderful thing; nothing like the store bought. Bill would wholeheartedly agree!
This Italian sausage with pasta is cooked in a tomato sauce with a spinach addition. We destroyed this quickly and liked every single bite of it!
Italian Sausage with Tomato and Spinach Pasta
Ingredients:
½ pound rigatoni
1 pound hot Italian sausage links
2 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 large can tomato sauce
½ teaspoon each, dried oregano and basil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper, to taste
½ pound baby spinach, chopped
¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Method:
Cook rigatoni per package directions, drain well and set aside.
Cut sausage into bite-sized pieces.
Heat olive oil in skillet, add sausage and sauté.
Remove sausage when cooked.
Add garlic, sauté.
Place tomato sauce in skillet.
Add oregano, basil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
Aunt Beck was great not only because she was my aunt but because she was the one who introduced me to pizza!
Aunt Beck, 1991
She was my mother’s youngest sister. After Aunt Beck and Uncle Dick got married, they lived for a short while in a trailer in the 3-corner lot across the road from our farm in Pickerington. I was really young and Mom did not allow me to cross the road and walk over there by myself but, I always wanted to! A few years later, they had a daughter and lived in Columbus.
Let me go back to around 1955 when I was 10 years old! (Ok, so now you know how old I am!) Aunt Beck, Uncle Dick and their toddler, Vicki, were visiting us one day when Aunt Beck asked if I’d like to go home with them for the night. I loved to go to their home when I was a kid, so my pajamas and toothbrush were packed fast! But, there was one thing I didn’t love and that was applesauce! Aunt Beck did love it and served it sometimes at meal time. I really didn’t like apple sauce and always tried to get out of eating it!
As we neared the Whitehall area Aunt Beck asked me if I had ever eaten pizza. I told her, “No, I’ve never heard of it. What is it?” She explained, “It’s a baked round of dough with tomato sauce, cheese and pepperoni on it.” Then I’m sure I badgered her with a lot of questions like, “What is pepperoni?” I could not imagine this thing called pizza and didn’t think too much of it by the sound of it because it seemed so different from anything I had ever eaten. But, I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be served with apple sauce!
Anyway, after a while, Uncle Dick pulled into the parking lot at Massey’s Pizza (interesting history.) We were met with an explosion of the weirdest aroma I had ever smelled in my life when the door to the pizza parlor opened. I thought, “Yuck, what is that smell?” I wondered how I was going to get out of this! Soon enough this huge circle of pizza was delivered to the table and Aunt Beck put a slice of it on my plate. I took a little bite and didn’t know what to think. Then I tried another bite with mozzarella oozing and by the time I neared the end of my first slice, my love affair with pizza had begun ~ thank you, Aunt Beck!
My Homemade Pizza
Ingredients:
4 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 packet active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup oil
1-1/3 cups warm water
Pizza sauce:
Combine the following ingredients well:
2-8 ounce cans tomato sauce
1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
Toppings:
1 pound Italian sausage, cooked and drained
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1-3.25 ounce package sliced pepperoni
Method:
In a large bowl, add yeast to lukewarm water, about 100 degrees. Stir well until yeast is dissolved and let it rest for 5 minutes.
Add flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Mix well.
Stir mixture with a wooden spoon; then use your hands to bring it together into a ball.
Knead for about 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic.
Place ball of dough in a bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil.
Turn the dough around in the bowl so that it gets evenly coated with oil.
Cover with plastic wrap.
Let sit in a warm place for 20 minutes.
After the dough has rested, divide it into 2 balls to press on pizza pans.
Press the dough out on the pans up over the edge a little.
PRE-BAKE the crust before filling is added at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes, until they puff up and the surface looks slightly dry.
Remove the pre-baked crusts from the oven.
Spread with thin layer of tomato sauce and toppings.
Bake at 425 degrees until cheese is hot and bubbly, about 15 minutes.
We may talk turkey at the Thanksgiving table but, what we really crave is stuffing or dressing, as I grew up calling it. No Thanksgiving meal would be complete without a great stuffing. It is definitely my favorite part of the dinner and we all have our favorite stuffing, for sure!
This recipe is adapted from a Chicago Tribune recipe. Just one bite of this delicious stuffing will be enough for a chorus of “aahs” around the dinner table – it’s that good! It is the absolute best stuffing and my family loves it. It has honors as our family traditional stuffing. By adding Italian sausage, apples, pecans and Triple Sec, it is a moist and flavorful stuffing, distinctive from all others.
Stuffing is definitely the soul of Thanksgiving and this is by far the ultimate! Just give it a try and it could be your traditional stuffing!
Ultimate Thanksgiving Stuffing
Ingredients:
1½ cups dried cherries, or golden raisins*
1½ cups orange liqueur (I use Triple Sec)
½ cup butter
2 cups celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 lb. Italian sausage, casing removed
1-16 oz. package stuffing mix
1 cup pecans, chopped
4 Honeycrisp apples, peeled, cored and chopped
½ cup butter, melted
2 cups water or chicken broth
1 t. ground sage
Salt & pepper, to taste Method:
Place cherries in a small saucepan and cover with 1 cup of orange liqueur.
Bring to a boil, remove from heat and set aside.
In a large skillet, melt ½ c. butter over medium heat. Saute the celery and onion for about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Using the same skillet, cook the sausage until crumbled and brown. Drain.
Combine the sausage and stuffing mix with the celery and onion mixture.
Stir in the cherries and liqueur mixture, pecans and apples.
Mix in melted butter, water, ½ cup orange liqueur.
The stuffing should be completely moistened.
Season with sage, salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 15" x 10” baking dish well.
Place stuffing in prepared dish.
Cover with buttered foil and bake till heated through, about 1 hour.
Uncover and bake until top is crisp, about 15 minutes
8-10 servings.
* Use any mixture of dried fruit you like: cherries, cranberries, raisins, dates, etc.
It is incredibly delicious, the ultimate stuffing!
