Roast Sausage With Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potato

Gentle reader, I have already shared with you how every autumn, my grief at the passing of summer is tempered only by reminding myself of fall’s pleasures, including squashes, soups, pie, and the kickoff of the New York Rangers hockey season. Well, this year, thanks to the greedy bastards at the NHL and their lockout, I DON’T EVEN GET TO WATCH HOCKEY AND OMG PEOPLE THIS IS CLEARLY HENRIK LUNDQVIST’S YEAR TO FINALLY GET THE CUP FOR GOD’S SAKES AND THIS IS SO NOT OKAY, CAN WE PLEASE FIX THIS ASAP!!!!!!!! Ahem…so, my point is, I must seek consolation solely in autumn comfort foods.

Toward that end, I recently prepared a hearty and satisfying one-dish meal featuring Brussels sprouts—reviled during childhood, when my mom used to steam them whole, but beloved ever since I discovered them in sliced, roasted, caramelized form. Since it’s low-maintenance in terms of prep and cleanup, I often make this dinner for just myself using my trusty Le Creuset gratin pan (thanks, Mom—it made up for all those steamed Brussels sprouts!). But you could also multiply these proportions to feed a family or a crowd, cooking everything in a roasting pan or on a foil-lined baking sheet.

The below recipe should serve 2 people; if you’re both big eaters, add a loaf of crusty bread and maybe a green salad to round out the meal. Depending what sausage you use, this can be delicious with red or white wine or with beer.

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Trim and slice in half about 10 oz. of Brussels sprouts.

Chop 1 large sweet potato (or you can use a russet potato) into wedges roughly an inch long.

Slice 1 large shallot or 1/2 a medium onion into strips roughly 1/2 inch long.

Coarsely chop several cloves of garlic.

Toss all this with 2 T butter, 1 T olive oil, 1 T balsamic vinegar, some thyme leaves, and a healthy sprinkling of coarse salt in a gratin pan or similar-sized oven-proof dish. (You can use a small foil-lined baking sheet or, again, multiply the proportions for more people.)

Use a fork to prick a few holes in 1 lb. of sausage links. You can use sweet or hot Italian sausage, kielbasa, andouille, chicken-and-apple—anything that has some give when you poke it, as opposed to dried sausages. Heck, even sagey breakfast links might be kind of good in this—let me know if you try it!

Lay the sausage on top of the veggies and put the dish in the oven. Cook it for maybe 45 minutes or until the veggies get fork-tender and nicely browned at the edges. Every 10 minutes or so, turn the sausage and toss the veggies. If the sausage looks like it’s in danger of getting overcooked (dried-out and tough) before the veggies cook through, take it out of the oven and let it rest, then just return it to the pan for the last few minutes of cooking to ensure it’s served hot.

You could also substitute the potato with 1 red pepper cut into strips, and serve each sausage with some veggies on a hoagie roll spread with grainy mustard, for a twist on the classic sausage and peppers. This variant would be great accompanied by beer when you have all your friends over to watch the first Rangers game after the lockout ends! Don’t stop believing!!!