{Where's the Turkey Sausage?}

On Friday, when David came home, I was excited for him to taste my first ever attempt at

making vegetarian cabbage rolls. He had two and said the sauce was great, but it was a lot of

cabbage. A few minutes later, he ordered pizza.

On Saturday, when he got back from golf, I proudly proclaimed, "Look what I made for

dinner." It was this multi grain pilaf Mediterranean salad that was totally delicious, btw.

He looked at it, tasted it, nodded, and said it was good. Then, he went to the bedroom to

change his clothes, came out with keys in hand and said, "I'm going to get some meat."

Hmm?

I realized we only cooked meat at home twice during June. Both times, it was chicken, and

he grilled it. (I made a really good chicken salad for him with it.) But that was it. The only

other meat he's had this month was from ordering lunch and dinner out.

My non-vegetarian husband had been awfully patient with all the vegetarian cooking I've

been doing. He's liked most of what I've made, but he's described a lot of it as "Earthy".

Personally, that's what I like and was going for, but it's a little too natural tasting for him

day in and day out.

He was clearly ready to get his carnivore on, (even though he's been happy with a more plant

based diet in general). So, I wanted to make something special for him that included meat. I

made two dishes from my fav Martha Stewart's Food Everyday. I cooked both of them for

the first time in March. So, they weren't new recipes, but I knew he liked them then and

would again.

1) Tamale Pies. Simple cornmeal crust with ground turkey, onion, tomato, corn and jalapeño

filling that's topped with shredded cheese. Then, I put those in the freezer so they're there

anytime the mood strikes.

2) Baked Pasta. David raves about this dish. It's such good comfort food, great for the

weekends or evenings when everyone is tired. What I love about it is the recipe makes

enough for two casserole dishes -- one for now and one to freeze. The flavor is solid, too.

I made a few slight changes that are reflected in the recipe below:

INGREDIENTS:

salt, pepper & olive oil

1 medium red onion

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 can whole tomatoes with juice, lightly crushed with hands

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 c. heavy cream

1 lb. rigatoni, cooked al dente and drained

10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1 pkg. Jenny O Turkey Sausage

9 oz. fontina cheese with 6 oz. cubed and the rest shredded

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

HOW TO DO IT:

Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain. Put back in pan. Add spinach. Set

aside. Meanwhile, cook the sausage in a large sauce pan on medium heat. Get it browned

on all sides. Take it out, cut the sausages in half lengthwise, and then chop it up into large

chunks. Put it back in the pan to finish cooking. Remove cooked sausage with tongs, place

it on a plate covered with paper towel to drain. Keep drippings in pan to flavor onions.

Add chopped onion to pan, toss often, until soft or for about three minutes. Add garlic. Cook

for another minute or so. Stir in tomatoes and oregano; cook until tomatoes are falling

apart, 10-15 minutes. Add cream; cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Season

with salt and pepper.

Now add cream sauce, sausage and fontina to pasta pot. Toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Divide evenly between two shallow 1 1/2-quart baking dishes. Top with grated

fontina and Parm. Bake in a 400 degree oven until browned edges are crisp, 20-30 minutes.

To freeze -- Do not add shredded cheese to the top. Let cool completely. Cover tightly with

plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. Place in freezer. Do not thaw before baking. Remove

plastic wrap and recover with foil. Cook until heated through, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours. Remove

foil, top with grated fontina and Parm. Bake another 20-30 minutes, until edges are browned.

(The only down side to freezing this is the time and energy it takes to reheat it.)

He was at the Diamondbacks game with coworkers and a vendor last night when I made

this. So, he'll be feasting on it tonight .... while I eat leftover vegetarian cabbage rolls again.

Works for me!