Cabbage and Sausage Casserole

Yesterday, after the fourth and thankfully last day of 5 am green belt training at work, I was exhausted.  So, I decided to try something simple.  Plus I had a head and a half of cabbage in my fridge left over from St. Patty’s day that needed to get used.  (I still have half a head, if you have any ideas)  I found this online and loved it instantly because it only has 4 ingredients, and I actually only used 2, because I forwent the sauce. 

I was good and actually cut up the cabbage on Wednesday, so when I got home, it took all of 5 minutes to throw together and into the oven.  To cook, for an hour and a half.  Which gave me plenty of time to shower and lazily watch Everyone Loves Raymond.  And enjoy the smells of my cabbage and sausage slowly roasting and getting all yummy and caramelized.  It wasn’t the prettiest thing to ever come out of my oven, but it was warm and spicy (I used hot Italian sausage) and didn’t need any additional seasonings.  It was simple and yummy and warm.  You could doctor it up with spices and sauces if you wanted, but there was something nice and comforting about the plainness of it.

I didn’t really miss the sour cream sauce, but I put it in here, in case you wanted to try it.  I halved the recipe and dropped the cooking time to 1 hour and 15 minutes, although an additional 5 minutes wouldn’t have hurt.  I was just too hungry to wait 5 minutes.  I cooked it all in my square Pyrex, with no need to grease or anything.

This probably isn’t the most exciting first recipe to have, but hell, I was tired and it hit the spot.  And I know it’s warm in AZ now so maybe not the best for you guys, but maybe you have left over cabbage too?  The original recipe is below:

Cabbage and Sausage Casserole

2 pounds Napa, savoy or green cabbage
2 pounds Italian sausage (sweet or hot)
½ cup sour cream
1 Tbsp. prepared horseradish/mustard

Preheat oven to 400°F

Slice the cabbage ½ inch thick.  Place 1/3 of the cabbage in Dutch oven or casserole.

Remove sausage from casing.  Arrange half the sausage on top of cabbage and press firmly.  Layer another third of cabbage and sausage, pressing firmly.  Spread remaining cabbage over the sausage.  Cover with foil and put in oven.

Bake until cabbage is tender, about 1 hour, 40 minutes.  Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes.

While cabbage is cooking, combine the sour cream and horseradish/mustard in a small bowl.  Slice the casserole into wedges and serve with sour cream mixture.