Cheesy Italian Sausage Potato Gratin

Cheesy Italian Sausage Potato Gratin. Not sure why, yet it seems that fresh potatoes either last a while or they start to sprout quickly. It’s usually hit-or-miss for me. I always buy organic potatoes in 5 lb bags. Red potatoes, golden potatoes, russet potatoes, purple potatoes, fingerling potatoes, etc. We love mashed potatoes, oven baked potato fries, potato salad, potato soup, and potatoes au gratin. Potatoes au gratin. What if I add some ingredients to my usual Super Sinful Potatoes Au Gratin recipe and change it up a bit? My bag of golden potatoes was ready for a new adventure.

This is one of those recipes where I always forget to take photos of each step. I hope you will forgive me for just showing final photos as the steps are pretty straight forward. Even though there are a LOT of steps in the recipe below, it’s really VERY SIMPLE to assemble. In a baking dish, layer potato slices with cooked Italian sausage, several cheeses, and a mixture of sauteed onion and red bell pepper and then a mixture of roasted tomatoes and sauteed mushrooms with herbs. Vegetable stock makes a lovely sauce and keeps everything supple. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for at least an hour, covered with foil for the first 45 minutes, until the top has browned and the potato slices are cooked through.

My husband likes this gratin a lot in warm and cold weather. I tend to serve it alongside a garden salad on the same plate.

Any leftovers can be taken for lunch the next day or frozen in containers. Check out those layers!

Enjoy!

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From the kitchen of A Food Lover’s Delight….

Cheesy Italian Sausage Potato Gratin

Ingredients:

6 golden potatoes (about 1 lb), well-scrubbed and thinly sliced
2 pre-cooked Italian chicken sausages, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds and then each round cut into quarters (I like Nature’s Promise brand)
2 T olive oil
1 c sliced sweet onion
1 c diced red and yellow bell pepper
1 c roasted tomatoes, chopped, or canned diced tomatoes
4 oz cremini mushroom caps, sliced
2 t Italian seasoning
1/4 c white wine
1/2 c vegetable stock/broth, divided
A couple sprinkles of salt to season the potatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced and divided
4 oz cream cheese
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c shredded Parmesan cheese
1 T finely chopped Italian parsley, to garnish

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease an 8″ x 4″ (64 oz) ramekin with cooking spray or butter.
3. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
4. Saute the sausage in the olive oil until it lightly browns.
5. Remove the sausage from the pan and place in a small bowl. Set aside.
6. In the same skillet, add a bit more olive oil and saute the onion and bell pepper until the mixture browns slightly.
7. Remove the onion and pepper mixture to another small bowl.
8. In the same skillet, saute the roasted tomatoes, the mushroom caps. You may need to add a tiny bit more olive oil. Season with the Italian seasoning. Saute until the mushrooms are cooked through. Add the white wine to deglaze the skillet and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove skillet from the heat and set aside.
9. Put a layer of potato slices on the bottom of the ramekin.
10. Pour some of the vegetable stock over the potato layer.
11. Sprinkle the potato layer with salt and some of the minced garlic.
12. Distribute half of the sausage and half of the onion pepper mixture over the potatoes.
13. Add half of the cream cheese in dollops over the sausage and potatoes.
14. Sprinkle half of the shredded mozzarella and half of the parmesan over the cream cheese.
15. Add another layer of potato slices with another splash of vegetable stock.
16. Season the potato layer with salt and the rest of the minced garlic.
17. Spread the tomato mushroom mixture over the potatoes.
18. Add the rest of the sausage, the rest of the onion pepper mixture, and dollops of the remaining cream cheese.
19. Sprinkle with the rest of the shredded mozzarella and parmesan.
20. Top with a final layer of potatoes.
21. Pour the remaining vegetable stock over the potatoes.
22. Season the potatoes with salt.
23. Cover the ramekin with aluminum foil.
24. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes.
25. Remove the foil and continue to bake the au gratin until the potatoes are fork tender and browned on top, another 15 – 20 minutes. Interior temperature of the potatoes should be around 160 degrees.
26. When the Italian sausage potato au gratin is done, remove it from the oven and let sit a few minutes.
27. Plate the gratin using a slotted spoon to carve out “slices,” garnish with finely chopped parsley, and serve!

Serves 4 diners as a main course. Offer with a garden salad on the same plate. Pairs well with beer or red wine.

Variations: Use Italian pork sausage instead of chicken sausage. Add some diced cooked zucchini or yellow squash. Use tomato sauce instead of the vegetable broth for a different flavor. Substitute your favorite cheeses such as ricotta for the cream cheese or fontina for the mozzarella. For extra decadence, you could sprinkle some shredded cheese onto the top of the gratin during the final minutes of baking. To make this dish vegetarian, just omit the sausage. To make this dish vegan, use vegan cheeses and sausage. Beyond Meat makes a plant-based Italian sausage that is available nation-wide.

Get yourself a 64 oz porcelain ramekin from Amazon:

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