Sausage and Potato Quiche

While I was living in Moldova I not only wanted to experience as much of the food and culture as I could but, I also wanted to share mine as well.  I brought presents from home, things that signified the New England area, and I cooked for my family on a number of occasions.  While I may not have any French heritage that I am aware of, one item that was easy for me to bake was quiche.  Easy, because when you have 50 chickens running around your yard, eggs become rather plentiful rather quickly.  It would get to the point where my host father would ask my why I wasn't making them quiche - he had buckets full of eggs everywhere and it was my job to put them to good use!

Quiche is another one of those great recipes to have around because it can be easily adapted to suit your needs and tastes.  You need eggs, cream or milk, and some cheese.  Everything else you add is up to you.  Would you like your quiche jam packed with fillings?  Do not use as many eggs.  Do you want to bite sized for a party?  Split your mixture between cupcake tins.  You can make it with a crust or without.  Regardless of what you put into your quiche or how you shape it, you will come out of the kitchen like a culinary rockstar with an amazing looking meal or party appetizer.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage
3 small potatoes - peeled, cubed, steamed
1 small onion - sliced
3 eggs
1/2 c. cream
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
9 inch pie shell

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F.  Steam cubed potatoes and set aside.

Heat a small amount of oil in a saute pan over medium heat and add onions.  Saute until they begin to soften, approximately 5 to 7 minutes.  Remove the casings from the sausage links and cut into chunks.  Add to the onions.  Cook until the sausage begins to brown.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and cream together.  Add the cheese and stir together.

Add the potatoes to the pie shell.  Layer the sausage and onions on top.  Pour the egg mixture over it.

Bake in the over for approximately 40 minutes, until the pie is cooked through and the top begins to brown.

This pie should have a wonderful savory taste with a little bite from the Parmesan cheese.  Because Parmesan is naturally salty and the sausage is seasoned I do not add anything extra to this recipe.  Hopefully you will find it as wonderful as I do.

Sausage Lasagna

I have always found lasagna to be one of the best "throw together" meals.  It requires four basic ingredients - lasagna noodles, marinara sauce, ricotta cheese, and mozzarella cheese.  After that it's up to you, which means you have been given carte blanche over your meal.  Add meat, add vegetables, add both...go crazy.  Of course, for some less experimental people, this could be your version of food hell.  Me, I have both gotten experimental as well as stuck close to a recipe.  What follows in this post is my adapted version of my absolute favorite lasagna recipe - Ina Garten's Turkey Lasagna.

I found this recipe six or seven years ago and fell in love because it uses creamy goat cheese to add a bit of tangy kick to the cheese mixture.  Another aspect that I really enjoy is that the sauce and the meat are cooked together.  For me, I feel that it creates a better flavor.  Plus, we're not putting together a dinner version of the 7-layer dip, we don't need individual layers for each section of the lasagna.  Some basic changes I've made to the original recipe include using a flavored goat cheese and crushed tomatoes with basil.  Using a flavored cheese adds a bit more depth (not that it's actually necessary) and having basil with the tomatoes means I was able to cut the amount I needed otherwise.  The result is a dish of fabulous everyone loves!

Ingredients:

Olive oil
1 c. onion - chopped
3 garlic cloves - mincesd
1 1/5 lbs hot Italian sausage - casings removed
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes with basil
1 6-oz can tomato paste
1/4 c. Italian parsley - chopped
2 Tbsp. partially dried basil - chopped
15 oz. part skim ricotta cheese
4 oz. crushed red pepper flavored creamy goat cheese
1 c. Parmesan cheese - grated
1 large egg
1 lb. fresh mozzarella - thinly sliced
1/2 box no-bake lasagna noodles

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook until tender, approximately 7 minutes.  Add the garlic and give a couple of stirs.  Add the sausage and cook for about 10 minutes.

As you cook, break the sausage apart into small chunks.  Once it is no longer pink add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, 1/2 the parsley, and the basil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook for another 20 minutes.  You want the sauce to thicken up.

While the sauce simmers, put together your cheese mixture.  In a large mixing bowl, combine goat cheese, ricotta, Parmesan cheese, the rest of the parsley, and the egg.  Don't be afraid to get your hands in there to ensure everything is well mixed.

On to the layers!  Start with 1/3 of the sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.  Next is a layer of noodles - no overlapping.  Follow with 1/2 the mozzarella, 1/2 the ricotta mixture, and 1/3 of sauce.

Then repeat, topping with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Bake in the oven for approximately 30 minutes until the sauce is bubbling.  Let rest for a couple of minutes before digging in.  It'll still be a sloppy mess on your plate, but I promise it is tasty!