Smoked Sausage and Artichoke Casserole

Winter is comfort food time, and where I come from comfort food most often appears in the form of a casserole. Since I'm still living without the benefit of a working stove top, my normal method of making a casserole doesn't work so I've been having to get creative. This particular combination was something I threw together on a whim, with happily tasty results.

I started by knowing I wanted to do something with a potato "crust" that would contain smoked sausage and cheese, with an egg mixture to hold it all together. As I looked around my kitchen, I came up with artichoke hearts and water chestnuts, and while I don't believe I've ever combined those with smoked sausage I decided to go for it. To keep it simple, I added very few seasonings, which allowed the flavours of the ingredients to shine through.

First step was to melt some butter in my 3-quart casserole dish, grate some potato, and dice some onion. I swirled the butter around the dish to grease it, then mixed the potato and onion together with my hands. From there, I dumped the potato-onion mixture into the casserole and continued mixing with my hands to combine with the butter.

Once the potato mixture was well-combined, I pressed it up the sides of the casserole to form a sort-of crust, making sure the mixture was pretty well evenly distributed with no gaps.

I then spread about half the grated cheese on the potato, followed by the drained water chestnuts.

After that, I spread half the diced sausage and the chopped artichoke hearts.

Finishing off the layers, I spread the rest of the cheese followed by the rest of the smoked sausage.

In a separate bowl, I whisked together the eggs, evaporated milk, and seasonings until well combined.

I then poured the egg mixture over the casserole, making sure some of it got on every part, and let it soak in for a couple of minutes. From there, it was into the oven for an hour.

This photo was taken right after it came out of the oven, before I let it stand for a few minutes. It's pretty liquid-y in the center when it first comes out, but leaving it stand for 15 or so minutes lets a great deal of the liquid absorb back into the casserole.

As you can see from the plated picture, after it stands there is very little excess liquid.

Smoked Sausage and Artichoke Casserole

Serves 6

3-4 red potatoes, grated (about 3 cups)

1 medium onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)

1/4 cup butter

8 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 (8 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained

14 ounces smoked sausage, diced

1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

6 large eggs

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (I used Italian-Romano seasoning from Spice Merchants)

Preheat oven to 350F; melt butter in a 3-quart casserole dish in the microwave for 30-45 seconds. Tilt casserole so melted butter greases entire inside of dish.

Combine grated potato and diced onion, then add to casserole dish and combine with butter (using your hands works best). Then press potato mixture up sides to form an even crust with no gaps.

Layer in order about half of cheese, water chestnuts, half of sausage, artichoke hearts, remaining cheese, and remaining sausage.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, evaporated milk, and seasonings; pour over casserole, making sure egg mixture is poured over entire top. Let stand 1-2 minutes to soak in.

Bake at 350F for about an hour. Center will remain liquid when removed, so let stand 15 or so minutes before serving.

I served mine with some frozen mixed vegetables, but it would be equally good with whatever vegetable you prefer, a green salad, or some cottage cheese.

Serving Size: 414 g

Calories: 719

Calories from fat: 416

Total Fat: 46.2 g

Saturated Fat: 21.5 g

Trans Fat: 0.2 g

Cholesterol: 308 mg

Sodium: 951 mg

Total Carbohydrates: 42.0 g

Dietary Fiber: 5.8 g

Sugars: 5.3 g
Protein: 35.3 g