Oven Roasted Fall Harvest Recipe

 I know my goal is to cook more vegetarian, but I found this recipe this season and I couldn't help but pass it along. If you could bottle up the essence of fall this is it on a plate. Warning it is highly addicting I think I've made it 3 times in the last month. You could use it as a side, main dish or it would even be great for brunch.

The key ingredient here is your sausage! This will really make or break the dish. I've only played around with different types of pork sausage the couple times I've made this. I think it would work just fine with chicken or turkey sausage (you do want some fat to help in the cooking).

Oven Roasted Fall Harvest

Total time 1 hour   Cook Time 45 min :: Prep time 15 min

Ingredients

·        ½-1 medium red onion

·        2 medium-large sweet potatoes

·        1 large or 2 medium potatoes

·        2 medium apples (Jonathan, McIntosh or Granny Smith)

·        2 Tbsp olive oil

·        1 tsp dried basil

·        1 tsp dried sage

·        1 tsp dried rosemary

·        ½ tsp salt

·        freshly cracked pepper (10-15 cranks of a mill)

·        2-3 links of sausage

Serves 4

Instructions

           1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the onion into one-inch chunks. Peel the potatoes and cut it into one-inch chunks as well.

          2)  Place the onions, potatoes, and sweet potatoes in a large 9×13 inch casserole dish. Add the olive oil, basil, sage, rosemary, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Toss until everything is well coated in oil and herbs.

         3) Nestle the sausage down into the casserole dish. Transfer the casserole dish to the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes.

        4) Chop apples into 1 in chunks (do not peel). At the 20 minute mark stir once, add apple chunks, and flip the sausage. Bake for another 25 minutes

        5) After removing the dish from the oven, slice the sausage into thin medallions and add it back to the dish.

        adapted from: Budget Bytes

really simple ingredients

Chop up your potatoes and onions. I really don't like onion so I did just half an onion and in larger bits so I could pick it out before serving. The flavor of the onion really helps so I don't recommend omitting it.

the most unbelievable smells should come from your oven

Sprinkle herbs very generously over the veggies and mix in. Nestle whole sausage in dish. Depending on your sausage if its precooked you might want to wait to put it in later with the apples.

I upped the ingredients a bit to serve 6 

After 20 minutes add apples and turn sausage, bake for another 25 minutes. I made it by adding the apples in the beginning but they turned into indistinguishable mush. Tasty but not exactly how I like my apples.

I've never seen a grin so big on the guys while eating this

Chop up sausage into bit size pieces add back to veggies, stir, and serve! This doesn't look like much but is very filling and serves 4 adults no problem.

You really can't go wrong with this dish.  Each time I've made it I've tweaked the recipe a bit and no matter what it turns out fabulous and the left overs (if there are ever any) keep well too! Make it your own and enjoy.