Sausage, Cauliflower and Kale Potpie - Thanks Real Simple!

I have yet to put together a recap of the end of our summer tour of the U - S - of - A, but I will hopefully post that soon.  In the meantime, I have been very excited about being back in my own kitchen and eating home cooked meals, so I thought I would share this delicious recipe that we I made the first week we returned home.

Sometimes the thought of making a potpie or casserole scares me.  I would consider myself a mindful eater and the words "potpie" and "casserole" typical cause visions of cheese, cream of something soups, and other "stick to your bones" ingredients.  When I found this recipe in Real Simple, it seemed healthy, easy, and a good fit for a dinner party!  Plus, it made plenty to feed four and still have leftovers.

This one has the same home-cooked feel of a standard potpie, but with a different twist.  Definitely worth a try!  Another good Real Simple find in the stacks of recipes I had ripped from old magazines.

Sausage, Cauliflower, and Kale Potpie
Yield: (1) 9x13 casserole - about 8 servings
 

Oil, Onions, and Spices - oh my!

Ingredients:

Onion mixture + broth and flour....

• (1) 17.3 oz. package of puff pastry, thaw and cut each sheet into 4 rectangles
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 lb. sausage links (your fave flavor), remove casings and cut into 1 in. pieces
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 1 T fresh rosemary
• Dash of red pepper flakes (this was my addition - not in the original recipe)
• 1/3 C flour
• 3 C low sodium chicken broth
• 2 bunches of kale, torn into pieces (the recipe called for one but I thought 2 was necessary) 
• 2 T white wine vinegar
• 1 head cauliflower, chopped into florets

Large bowl with all the deliciousness...

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 F - unless you are assembling ahead of time and then baking later in the day or the next day.
2. Heat oil in the pan and cook sausage until browned - they should be mostly cooked but don't need to be cooked the whole way through since you will be baking them later
3. Use a slotted spoon to set sausage aside in a large bowl (yes - it needs to be large), and leave pan drippings.
4. Add onions, rosemary and a dabble of salt/pepper, and red pepper flakes to the pan and saute for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add flour and stir to coat other ingredients (about 1 minute)
6. Add chicken broth and simmer until the base has thickened, stirring often.
7. Once the sauce thickens, add white wine vinegar, some more salt/pepper and kale to the pan.  *Note - since there was a fair amount of kale, I added the greens in batches until some became wilted, thus making room for the remaining greens.  Continue this process until all kale is wilted and combined.
8. Pour mixture over the sausage and toss to combine
9. Place mixture into a 9x13 pan and top with the 8 pieces of puff pastry, overlap pieces slightly.  *Note - it only took me six slices to cover the pan, so I added some honey and cinnamon to the remaining two pieces, wrapped them and baked them for fifteen minutes while we ate our potpie. They were a nice light dessert after the meal.  It was a delicious and wonderful life decision!
10. Bake at 400 for 25 - 30 minutes (the mixture should be bubbling), cool and then serve!

Prepped in a 9x13 pan

It is super easy, super satisfying and not too too heavy.  After reading the reviews on the real simple website there were some good ideas for alterations - adding garlic or garlic powder, putting an egg wash on the pastry, using spicy sausage, using apple cider vinegar instead of white wine vinegar, broccoli instead of cauliflower, different greens...

Any way you make it is sure to be delicious, so work with what you have in the house and make it your own!  It was a great meal on a crisp fall day!!

Yummmmmmmmy!!!

Bon Appetit!

Brown Butter Tortellini with Kale & Peas

Props to Real Simple for this recipe that is, well....really simple!  Go figure.  Now that I have made it, I was bummed that I tried this one on a Saturday night because it is soooooo simple, yet satisfying!  It easily took less than 30 minutes from the time I decided to cook until the time we sat down to eat, which in my book is the best kind of meal for a weekday after hanging out with third graders all day!  Plus, it was delicious!

Ingredients:

• 16 to 19 oz. Bag of frozen cheese tortellini (not frozen would work too but is more expensive)
• 1 C Frozen peas
• 4 T Butter (I used salted, but go for unsalted if your body dislikes excess sodium)
• 3 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 Bag of Spinach OR 1 Stalk of Kale, stems removed and torn into bite size pieces
• 1 t Lemon Zest (if you are lazy/don't have a lemon, feel free to omit but add more lemon juice)
• 1 T Lemon Juice
• Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Cook tortellini according to the package directions (Takes about 5 mins once the water boils)
2. With 1 minute remaining on the tortellini, add in the cup of frozen peas.  Strain.
3. Meanwhile, warm a large skillet over medium heat and brown the butter.  To brown the butter, melt the butter in the skillet and allow time to heat for 2-3 minutes.  Watch out for splashes and use a splash guard as the butter heats.  Once it slightly browns and has a nutty fragrance it is good to go.  Be careful not to burn the butter!
4. Once butter is melted, add in the leafy greens and tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until your greens are wilted.  About 5 minutes.
5. Once your tomatoes are cooked and greens are wilted remove from heat.  Add the cooked tortellini and peas to the skillet and mix together.  
6. Add in the lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper and toss to coat.
7. Serve warm!  Piece of cake, right?!

P.S.  My husband said it reminded him of his families Christmas Sugar Cookie recipe but trust me, it does not taste like sugar cookies.  I guess he just associates lemon zest and butter with Christmas cookies?  Regardless, try this one!!

Bon Appetit!