Veggie Sausage Bake

Leftover Veggie Sausage Bake

So, what do you do during COVID when you are home alone with Roo and Emmy (our dogs) while Elizabeth is in Boston helping Davis and Bridget prepare their apartment for their new arrival and Carter is house/cat sitting in Richmond for Jack and Liv, who are vacationing at the beach? By the way, the due date for Davis and Bridget’s new arrival is October 2^nd.  Well, one thing you can do is cook.  I am not a good cook or claim to be.  I, however, do not mind trying new things. So, I decided to experiment this morning with a bunch of leftovers, and it turned out much better than I had hoped. 

Here is what I found in the fridge to work with; two leftover grilled sausages from my cookout the night before; one ear of corn on the cob left over from Davis’ stay earlier in the week; one-half of a large red onion; and, some peppers diced up from earlier in the week and another half of a pepper that had not been diced. I also spotted some jalapeno peppers in a jar, picked okra in a jar and several blocks of cheese (I chose Mozzarella and Dubliner). And sitting in the window ledge were several fresh tomatoes from our plants on the deck.

I diced and sautéed (covered) the red onion and peppers in olive oil and jalapeno pepper juice. I added some jalapeno pepper slices and four sliced pickled okra to the onions and peppers with about two minutes left on the burner.  I also shaved the corn off of the ear and pan roasted it with olive oil and black pepper. Once the corn was properly charred, I added the two sausages, which I had sliced. I then added a little butter.

I emptied the onion-pepper-jalapeno-okra mix into a casserole dish and then put the corn and sausage on top.  I then added slices of fresh tomato, followed by shaved Mozzarella and Dubliner cheeses.  I popped said mix into the oven for 10 minutes, which had been pre-heated to 400 degrees.  Once the cheeses were properly melted, I pulled out the dish and added fresh tomato slices on top as a garnish. 

When I plated the dish, I added firm whole fat Greek yogurt on the side and some hot sauce as a garnish. Wow! It was awesome.  The surprise in the dish was the pickled Okra.  When combined with the sweetness of the sautéed red onions and the seared corn, the flavor stood out without dominating the dish. The fresh, uncooked tomatoes and the fatty Greek yogurt acted as palate cleansers.  If you have not watched the documentary “Salt, Fat, Acid and Heat” on Netflix, you should.  Without realizing it, I had used all four perfectly in my dish. The brine from the picked Okra created the salt. The yogurt and cheese provided the fat. And the tomatoes, jalapeno juice, and the onions provided some acid.  As I sat down to enjoy my creation, I realized that I was going to have leftovers from my “Leftover Bake.” I then realized how good it was going to taste with my leftover half of a bottle of Liberty School Merlot while watching the third round of the PGA Championship.  I already knew this but, winning a golf tournament comes down to putting.  Maybe if Tiger Woods puts better than he did yesterday, or Brooks Koepka stops pushing his puts right, and Jason Day stops leaving his puts short, they can catch the leader, the only Chinese golfer to ever lead a PGA tournament after two rounds!  Have a wonderful Saturday everyone.  I will be watching golf, drinking some red wine, and eating leftovers!