NCDR: What to make for dinner?

bumpuser9353653

I've got a pound and a half of mild Italian sausage (no skins) and no idea what to do with it.  I thought about lasagna, but we don't have ricotta.  Any other ideas?

Into+the+Kitty

Pizza with sausage, peppers, and onions.

bumpuser9353653

Pizza does sound good, and we have some Naan bread from Costco that works well as a pizza crust.  Would it be too much pizza, though, considering we made hummus pizza like two nights ago?  I know, totally different flavor, but same type of meal.

TJ1979

Cabbage and egg noodles with sausage!

Sausage and pepper hoagies.

Jambalaya.

Stuffed bell peppers.

TJ1979

rugbymama said:

Pizza does sound good, and we have some Naan bread from Costco that works well as a pizza crust.  Would it be too much pizza, though, considering we made hummus pizza like two nights ago?  I know, totally different flavor, but same type of meal.

flummadiddle85

We're boring over here and would just do pasta.

bumpuser9353653

I do love egg noodles, but alas, no cabbage...

And that Jambalaya looks amazing!

stoneycakes

Lasagna is also good if you make a thick Bechamel sauce in place of the ricotta.  Sometimes I think I like it better that way, but DH likes ricotta better.  You can pretty much sub ground sausage for anything you would use hamburger in.  American Chop Suey or stuffed peppers come to mind.

sarenu1

Saute peppers, sausage, mushrooms, onion, and tomato (or a pasta sauce).

Put that on any kind of noodles or gnocchi.

bumpuser9353653

Thanks for the suggestions, guys!  Pizza or pasta might be the answer since we have all the ingredients. I'm sure DH could come up with something super creative and fancy, but I'm not creative when it comes to pulling random ingredients together, so simple it is

Mandmeesh

TJ1979 said:

Cabbage and egg noodles with sausage!

Sausage and pepper hoagies.

Jambalaya.

Stuffed bell peppers.

Kelly11235

Sausage rolls.  Sausage meat wrapped in puff pastry and baked in the oven.  Very tasty.

Scotch eggs.  Hard boiled egg coated with sausage and then breadcrumbs.

Makes an tasty lunch or snack.

Not particularly healthy though.

unaveragejane

stoneycakes said:

Lasagna is also good if you make a thick Bechamel sauce in place of the ricotta.  Sometimes I think I like it better that way, but DH likes ricotta better.  You can pretty much sub ground sausage for anything you would use hamburger in.  American Chop Suey or stuffed peppers come to mind.

Is that she the girl on Bones or the one in New Girl?

Seriously, food talk always = new vocab words to me!

stoneycakes

unaveragejane said:

stoneycakes said:

Lasagna is also good if you make a thick Bechamel sauce in place of the ricotta.  Sometimes I think I like it better that way, but DH likes ricotta better.  You can pretty much sub ground sausage for anything you would use hamburger in.  American Chop Suey or stuffed peppers come to mind.

Is that she the girl on Bones or the one in New Girl?

Seriously, food talk always = new vocab words to me!

AKA white sauce

unaveragejane

@stoneycakes Down here white sauce is a mayo and vinegar based condiment to be eaten with smoked pork or poultry. It would be terrible in lasagna.

But I do get what you're talking about now.

PipSqueak0313

I made sausage loaves for supper tonight......sausage, thawed and squeeze dried frozen chopped spinach, and shredded jack cheese surrounded by bread dough and baked. 1 thing of sausage, 1 package of spinach, and one brick of cheese makes two loaves so one eaten tonight and one frozen for a night when a quick meal is needed.....of course dh had to buy a package with 3 loaves of bread dough.....so one made monkey bread for dessert.

stoneycakes

PipSqueak0313 said:

I made sausage loaves for supper tonight......sausage, thawed and squeeze dried frozen chopped spinach, and shredded jack cheese surrounded by bread dough and baked. 1 thing of sausage, 1 package of spinach, and one brick of cheese makes two loaves so one eaten tonight and one frozen for a night when a quick meal is needed.....of course dh had to buy a package with 3 loaves of bread dough.....so one made monkey bread for dessert.

That sounds really yummy.

TJ1979

stoneycakes said:

PipSqueak0313 said:

I made sausage loaves for supper tonight......sausage, thawed and squeeze dried frozen chopped spinach, and shredded jack cheese surrounded by bread dough and baked. 1 thing of sausage, 1 package of spinach, and one brick of cheese makes two loaves so one eaten tonight and one frozen for a night when a quick meal is needed.....of course dh had to buy a package with 3 loaves of bread dough.....so one made monkey bread for dessert.

That sounds really yummy.

Oh!  That kinda sounds like those things @CLLDLL or @TJletters told us about.  The sausage and the sauerkraut in the bread roll.  Man those were good!  @stoneycakes didn't you have a mspi pizza dough recipe?

stoneycakes

@TJ1979, here is my current favorite dough recipe:

https://bakingsteel.com/jim-laheys-no-knead-dough/

As far as MSPI goes, pretty much every pizza dough recipe is already MSPI safe if you make it at home. But I'm sure you'll find premade doughs and pizza places that have dairy and soy ingredients just because freaking everything does.

TJ1979

Okay, I have that saved.  I was thinking of the different flours you were playing with.  You didn't have a gluten free one did you?

stoneycakes

TJ1979 said:

Okay, I have that saved.  I was thinking of the different flours you were playing with.  You didn't have a gluten free one did you?

No.  I made one with Einkorn flour, which is an ancient grain so it apparently has a different kind of gluten than regular flour.  I also made a spelt one.  I used a different recipe than the one I posted for them.  They were both good in their own way.  The spelt one was chewier and closer to a traditional NY style crust, but with a distinctly wheaty flavor.  The Einkorn one has so little gluten, I couldn't even hand stretch it.  I had to use a rolling pin on it.  But it tasted pretty good.  Kind of buttery.  The texture of it was more like a cheap frozen pizza crust.

stoneycakes

https://jovialfoods.com/einkorn/

^^^ That's the website I get the Einkorn from.  Their pasta is really good, too.  I can't even tell the difference between that and regular pasta.

stoneycakes

This is the recipe I used for the spelt and Einkorn crusts.  It's also very good with regular bread flour.

https://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001199.html

I don't go crazy with refrigerating the flour beforehand and stuff.  I just put the ingredients together like I would a regular crust.

TJ1979

Ugh, it just seems so damn intimidating.

stoneycakes

TJ1979 said:

Ugh, it just seems so damn intimidating.

Which one?  The second one I posted?  I just throw the yeast and water into a bowl for a few minutes, add in the oil, salt and flour and let it mix in the KA.  Then I take the kneaded dough and throw it all in the ziploc bag in the fridge.  When I'm ready to use it, I portion out enough for a pizza and make a ball with it.  Then lightly oil it and cover it with saran wrap and let it sit on the counter for 1 1/2 - 2 hours before use.

The directions on that blog are over the top. I know it's about achieving the perfect pizza dough, but if it's too much work, you'll never do it.  I just use it for the ingredient ratios.

bumpuser9353653

Btw, I made pasta with the sausage, zucchini, and tomatoes. And I saved some sausage for pizza tonight. That's called winning.

TJ1979

Look at you meal planning @rugbymama!

Sorry we mk-jacked your thread.

It's the whole process @stoneycakes.  The kneading and the resting and the stretching.  Plus the einkorn recipe said not to use the KA.  It just seems like a long process that has a lot of opportunities for screwing up.  Plus... FFWC I've never used yeast.  I'm scared of it.

stoneycakes

TJ1979 said:

Look at you meal planning @rugbymama!

Sorry we mk-jacked your thread.

It's the whole process @stoneycakes.  The kneading and the resting and the stretching.  Plus the einkorn recipe said not to use the KA.  It just seems like a long process that has a lot of opportunities for screwing up.  Plus... FFWC I've never used yeast.  I'm scared of it.

Seriously, don't be scared of it.  I had never worked with it until last year when I was MSPI.  You'll be so glad you learned.  It's way easier than you think.  Just follow the directions and you'll be fine.  And you can make so much more stuff for yourself because it will be all be MSPI and nut free. Trust.

CLLDLL

@TJ1979 yeast is so easy. You'll love it. Warm water to activate it, sugar to feed it. Easy Peasy. I think the Pioneer Woman has a crazy easy pizza dough recipe too I if you want simpler directions.

Oh and if you start making your own stuff a lot, buy yeast in bulk to save $ and store it in the freezer.

ETA: buy not but