Sausage, Potato, and Cabbage Casserole

 

 

 

  Every year around St Patrick's Day, I like to find something different, instead of the standard corned beef or ham and cabbage with potatoes. So, this year, I decided to throw together a casserole using sausage instead of ham or corned beef. 

 I started with the potatoes (because how can you have an Irish inspired casserole without potatoes?) and then figured I'd just layer them with the cooked sausage and chopped cabbage. And then, sort of in an "au gratin" kind of move, I poured cream over the whole thing and baked it. 

 Well..... Let me just tell you... OMG it was amazing!!!! The cream and the extra liquid from the cabbage soaked right into the potatoes, cooking them perfectly, and the sausage seasoned the entire thing. And then the little tang of the Swiss cheese rounded the entire bite. I'm not even kidding when I tell you that I couldn't stop eating it. Btw.. I must say.. very often, when I make a giant casserole, I usually give half of it away, since there's only one of me. But in this case, I kept the entire thing for myself and then just sliced a big square of it for every meal. Talk about stretching a buck... I seriously have to do the math the see how many meals I got from just one casserole. This will definitely feed a crowd! So if you're feeling something hearty and St Patrick's Day -sh, try this one.  It's just the thing for a crisp March night and it will definitely hit the spot. Enjoy!

 

2 lbs bulk sausage
5 or 6 large Yukon gold potatoes (more or less)
1 small head cabbage (or half of a large one)
1 medium onion
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper
16 oz shredded Swiss cheese
2 cups heavy cream
1-2 cups Panko bread crumbs


 

Heat oven to 400ºF.

In a large skillet, brown the sausage, breaking it into small pieces. While it's cooking, roughly chop the onions and cabbage.
When sausage is cooked, remove from pan to a bowl, set aside. In the same pan, add onions and cabbage along with fennel seed, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Add a little butter or oil if needed to get things going. Saute until they begin to soften. While it's cooking, peel and slice the potatoes into thin slices.
Assemble:
In a large casserole dish, layer half of the potato slices, then add half of the sausage, then half of the cabbage. Top with half of the shredded cheese. Repeat all layers. Pour cream over all.
Cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour.
Remove cover, top with bread crumbs. Place back in oven for about 15 minutes or until golden.
Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cut into squares and serve. Would be great witha lovely light salad.

 

 

 

Tips:

Use any kind of sausage you like. Don't like Swiss cheese? Use Mozzarella or a sharp Cheddar.

To save a little time, you can use already cooked potatoes when assembling your casserole, but the raw potatoes are meant to absorb all the extra liquid from the cabbage and also the cream. That's also one of the reasons for letting it sit for 15 minutes out of the oven.

 Hmm... now I'm thinking I'll go back and make it again...  with ham or corned beef ... or bacon!.... and BOTH mozzarella cheese and cheddar. Yum.