Cooking Cheap

Sausage and Potato Stew

Adapted from “True Tuscan”, Cesare Casella, @2005

Serves 6

My comments in [brackets]

• 3 Tbl extra virgin olive oil [less is likely]
• 1 Tbl. minced garlic [2 to 3 cloves]
• 3 whole fresh sage leaves [I used 4 smaller ones]
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper [flakes]
• 4 Cups celery chunks [ about 9 sticks, almost one bunch]
• 1 Cup red onion chunks [medium yellow onion diced]
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 lb. Italian Sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices, still in casing, half sweet and halt hot. [2 of each]
• 1/4 Cup dry white wine [more or less]
• 2 Cups whole canned tomatoes, chopped with their juice. [One 14.5 oz can whole tomatoes, broken up by hand]
• 2 lb. Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks, (6 Cups) [ Alert! 6 cups is a lot more than 2 pounds, by a lot. I used 1.5lb's (2 medium) and that looks to be about right, compared to the rest of the dish
• 2 Cup water plus more as needed. [possibly a lot more]

1. Coat bottom of stock pot [or dutch oven] with olive oil. Add the garlic, sage and crush red pepper and saute over medium heat [ medium low] until the garlic begins to color. Add the celery, carrots, and onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste and saute the vegetables until they begin to soften, 10 to 15 minutes
2. Add sausage and cook 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Add the wine and reduce by half
4. Add the tomatoes, potatoes and 2 cups water [to cover]. Season with salt and pepper [Not much]. Simmer the stew for 1.5 to 2 hours, stirring occationally and adding more water if the mixture becomes too thick. The Francesina is done when the potatoes are very soft and falling apart. Spoon the stew into bowls and serve.

[Cecil now:]
The idea is that the potatoes thicken the stew as they break apart from long cooking. Simmer uncovered, I guess. I happen to have fresh sage in the garden that hasn’t died from cold. Once it gets established it handles a lot of abuse.Snipping a top off in winter is nothing compared to the destruction I bring in the spiring

This dish turned out it very very good. I recommend it. Easy, inexpensive, seriously tasty. I was worried that it was too much celery. Nope. It just mostly disappears into a lovely, slitghtly tomatoey broth with the fat from the sausage and the starch. The chunks of meat have a nice texture (chew). It’s a wonderful balance.