Baked Pepper, onion and sausage casserole

Aside from pasta, meatballs, scrumptious pastries and minestrone soup... what other flavors does your mind conjure up when you think of Italian foods? My mind zooms right in to peppers, onions and sausage.

It's been a long while since I prepared this dish, but one that my family always enjoyed. and because it is so darn cold today, I wanted to run the oven as much as I could and just stay put in the kitchen. First, I made some rosemary and basil foccaccio and for lunch today a small favorite casserole. I still had much in the frig from the childrens visit that I wanted to use up. Some sausage, roasted red peppers, onions, a half tub of ricotta cheese along with a bag of spinach. Usually I'd use hot Italian sausage in this dish, but I had on hand some homemade chicken and herb sausage that needed to be used up along with the last of my garden potatoes.

This is a very quick and easy meal to prepare, served with some warm crusty bread and big salad and a few glasses of Cab-- a perfect lucheon dish. The fragrance from the peppers, onions and rosemary combine to make this casserole amazing, both in smell and flavor!

Baked Peppers, Onion and Sausage Casserole

5 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
2 TBLS butter, softened
1 large onion, sliced
1/4 cup roasted red peppers
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bell pepper, sliced
2 TBLS olive oil
3 Italian sausage links, sliced into one inch pieces
3 cups fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried thyme, rosemary and savory
sea salt & ground pepper




* Butter an ovenproof casserole dish and place potato slices across the bottom and along the sides of dish overlapping them. Reserve enough potato slices to encrust the top of finished casserole.
* Saute the pepper, onions, garlic in some olive oil until vegetables are softened, about five minutes. Add sausage and cook until lightly browned.
* Turn off the heat, stir in spinach,roasted red peppers, ricotta cheese, half the herb seasonings, sea salt and pepper. Cover the pan and let sit just a few minutes, or until the spinach wilts.
* Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the potato base crust. Add the cooked vegetable/sausage mixture and cover casserole with remaining potato slices. Drizzle just a bit more olive oil over all and sprinkle on the remaining herbs and grated cheese.
* Bake covered in a 400 degree oven for twenty minutes. Uncover casserole, and lower oven to 350 degrees and bake 10 minutes longer. Serve with a tossed salad and crusty bread. Lunch is served. Enjoy!

Healthy Granola

Well the kids got out of town just in time, and just before they closed the airport due to the storm. It was so great to see everyone. So much catching up to do. Much chatter, many laughs and plenty of time spent in the kitchen. Once they got all that skiing out of their systems, it was time to cook. We made stuffed manicotti, filled with roasted root veggies, veal parmesan for the non vegans, sausage subs with peppers and onions for Bill, Bobby and Hank--the football fans who were first in line when we made two trays of white pizza. They, in turn arrived bearing gifts from the North End of Boston as they arrived here via Logan airport with boxes of Italian pastries. I had forgotten just how much I miss a good Italian bakery living here in Maine now. I was in heaven ;-) One morning Nan, Susan and Jeanine wanted to make some granola to bring back home. I can't tell you how many bags of this I ship annually to these kids.


I simply love granola. Added on top of my morning yogurt with honey, sprinkled over most of the smoothies I prepare, in most of my muffins.. or just to munch on. It's all good, and so good for you. I figured, if we made some, perhaps my annual postage bill would decrease somewhat too. ;-) This is my base recipe, but feel free to add or subtract to it. Sometimes I'll add dried fruits-- cranberries,raisins,or apricots but typically you'll always find a mix of almonds, walnuts and pecans in my granola. Susan left me a recipe she found for granola biscotti, so I'm anxious to try this next. It just sounds so good to me.

Healthy Granola

4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup Canola oil
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 cup honey
1/2 cup oat bran
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup molasses
2 TBLS cinnamon powder
pinch of nutmeg
1 TBLS vanilla extract
1 cup each: chopped walnuts, coarsely chopped pecans, whole almonds
** optional-- 1/2 cup dried fruits: cranberries, raisins,chopped apricots, dates



Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In large bowl combine oatmeal, wheat germ, oat bran, wheat bran, cinnamon powder and nutmeg. Mix in all of the nuts. Then stir in the canola oil, honey, maple syrup, molasses and vanilla until everything is well coated.



Spread evenly onto a large 12 x 15 sheet pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, stirring every ten minutes so everything bakes evenly. Don't overbake it. Add dried fruits of your choice after removing the granola from oven and it has cooled completely. This granola can be stored up to three weeks in an airtight container. Enjoy!

We're already missing you kids..love you guys-- see you again in August. xoxo

Our ski bums. :-)