Looks good, doesn’t it? Alright, it’s not the “healthiest” concoction. But I promise you, the kale balances out the other stuff. And if you have a picky eater in your house, this will surely convince him to not only try kale, but love it as well.
I had never even tried it myself until four years ago. My youngest was a newborn and we had joined a CSA at a local organic farm for the first time. I figured that by pre-paying for our veggies, it would force us to eat more of them–and a greater variety, too. There were some failures from the deal–kohlrabi comes to mind–but for the most part, it worked well for us. I ate more greens that summer than ever before, even with a new baby and a two-year-old under foot.
The inspiration for this dish comes from a meal that was made for us when my son was just days old. The mommy group I hung out with at the time made it a point to set up new moms with 1-2 weeks’ worth of meals. Each of us would pick a day and volunteer to bring over something for the family to help out. Every mom should be so lucky, whether it’s for her first or tenth child. Their outpouring of love and support really touched us. And the meals were delicious–more so because we didn’t have to worry about putting together something at such a hectic time.
This one in particular became part of our dinner routine for a while, but for some reason I cannot recall, I stopped making it. Recently, there were a few requests for kale recipes, though, so I figured it was time to resurrect it. I can see this becoming a regular again.
I originally made this recipe using sweet Italian sausage but the hot Italian sausage adds some depth. Either will work depending on your tastes. Sure, it’s not diet food, but it’ll definitely satisfy appetites. And the kale makes it somewhat good for you, right?
Sausage Kale Potato Casserole
Ingredients
- 3-4 russet potatoes sliced thin
- 2-3 Tablespoons Kerrygold unsalted butter plus extra for greasing
- 1 pound bulk hot Italian sausage or 4-5 links, casings removed
- 1/2-2/3 bunch of curly-leaved kale washed, dried, and pulled off the stems
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9×13 baking dish and set aside.
- Wash potatoes but do not skin them. Slice thinly and arrange in a single layer in the bottom of the baking dish. Drop a few thin pats of butter across the top of the potatoes. Bake for about 30 minutes.
- While the potatoes are baking, brown the sausage. I prefer my large cast iron pan for this. Just make sure whatever you use is a big one. As that’s going, pull the kale off the stems and wash and dry it. If you have a Salad Spinner, use it. It makes the job so much easier. Set the kale aside.
- Remove the sausage from the pan to a bowl and set it aside. Sauté the kale in the same pan in the sausage drippings until wilted to about half its original size. Remove from heat.
- At this point, about 30 minutes should have passed. Take the baking dish out of the oven and layer on top of the potatoes the kale, sausage, and cheddar cheese. Return to the oven, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
mmm..looks good! I’m going to try this, but with sweet potato instead of regular potato!
what a simple but perfect dish! I am going to make this soon…thanks for sharing it.
This looks so super good, thanks for sharing
Oooh! I’m bookmarking this because I love me a good casserole! 🙂 This looks delicious and so comforting! Yum!!
Cafe Zupas » Blog Archive » in season: kale
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Made it tonight with turkey sausage and it was delicious. I can’t stop eating it. My two kids, 8 & 11, loved it too! They commented that their friends complain about casseroles, but they love them. Thanks so much.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! That’s a family favorite around here, though I don’t make it anywhere near often enough. 🙂
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i know this post is old but it came up on your sidebar when i was checking out the kahlua post and since i made my first casserole last night, i had to comment! this looks awesome. for some reason sausage and kale taste so great together. and you’re totally right about love in a dish! it’s like how cakes are baked with love…i’m not surprised that you, madam baker, are great at making casseroles. combine things in a pan and put them in the oven – sounds very you! 😉
Ha! I love this recipe, though! You’ll find that most of my “cooking” is really just food that’s baked. Like baked mac and cheese, baked ziti, lasagna, and casseroles. 😉
We really liked this. It’s too bad that the perfect thing with kale is yummy pork fat, but it really is. I added sliced carrots with the potatoes which made a very pretty dish. Thanks for the dinner idea.
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Very good! I’m ashamed to say that I’ve been making this from a mix from a bakery, and it was so wonderful to find an recipe from scratch that was just as good! I left the fat in from the sausage and added just a little salt. Very delicious! Will probably make this every Saturday morning. Thank you for posting!
I am so glad to have found this recipe! I bought kale and italian sausage today but wasn’t sure what to do with it so I searched and found this. It was delicious! I like that since the sausage is so flavorful and spicy, you don’t need to add any other spices. Easy peasy! Next time I will use more kale (I didn’t use enough). Thanks so much!
Making this tonight for the first time. A little confused about cooking time… recipe heading says 70 min but all I see is cook potatoes for 30 min, then top with sausage and cheese and bake 10 more minutes. What am I missing? is the time spent sautéing the sausage and kale added to reach the 70 min total? Thanks
Good catch! It was a typo. If you cook the sausage while the position bake initially, it should only be 40 minutes or so. Hope you like it!
Delicious! Thumbs up from my teenager even with kale in it – hooray!
Add to above – used Beyond Hot Italian Sausage to make it vegetarian…
What a great adaptation! I’m so glad your family enjoyed it!
This is such an amazing recipe especially considering I doubted what it would taste like from the lack of any sauce. So simple but sooo good! My boyfriend is always asking me to make it!
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