By Dawn Smith-Pfeifer
I like hotdish. I grew up on it. It wasn’t until I got married to a guy who isn’t fond of his food touching that I realized not everyone is a fan. Oh, there was the requisite “honeymoon” period in which he extoled the virtues of my Italian hotdish. But then, slowly I realized he really was not that much of a hotdish fan.
It took a few hints for me to get it. I’d say something like, “I’m making [fill in the blank] hotdish,” and he would say something like, “Again? We just had that.” Even if it had been a month or more.
It was then that I realized he wasn’t being totally honest with me about hotdish.
I don’t know about you, but when it comes to making meals, I’d rather make something that people enjoy rather than something they have to choke down. Which means what I enjoy often takes a backseat to what everyone else likes (Mom/wife problems, am I right?).
For many, many years, I have not made a hotdish. I have fed my hotdish habit, pitifully, by mixing my potatoes and corn together when I make both as a side dish to the meat, usually ham.
Of course, hubby always turns up his nose and says how gross it is.
“Just don’t look at it, then!” I retort.
There is something about a good hotdish that makes you feel all cozy and safe. It’s a total comfort food for me.
Knowing that about me, you can imagine I was pretty pumped up when I started seeing “sheet pan” meals becoming a thing. I mean, seriously. It’s just a hotdish without the cream of [fill in the blank] soup as a binder.
Think about it. Instead of cream of mushroom soup, you use a little olive oil and seasonings (one of my favorites is rosemary) on your meat, potatoes and choice of veggies, put it in the oven and in 30-45 minutes, voila! Supper!
“Hey! It’s a trend! Everyone is doing it!” I say.
“Would you jump off a bridge if your friends told you to?” hubby responds.
I know where this is going.
But just like with hotdish, I had to give the sheet pan thing a few tries before I ultimately admitted defeat. And I have to admit this is one I going to miss. A lot.
I made what I thought was an incredibly delicious sausage, red and yellow pepper, potato and onion sheet pan last week mixed together in olive oil and seasoned with a little salt, pepper and rosemary. Even thinking about it now is making my mouth water.
Hubby was not impressed.
Try as I might, my hopes for integrating a new-twist-on-a-hotdish idea into my list of go-to recipes were dashed.
Sheet pans will NOT be the new hotdish in my house. Maybe it will work in yours! 😉
(The beauty of this recipe is you can replace any of the veggies with your choice and it is still yummy!)
Sausage pepper sheet pan
Ingredients
1 package of your favorite pre-cooked sausage
2 Tbs. olive oil
1.5 lb. of baby potatoes, halved or quartered
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
½ yellow onion
2 tsp. dried rosemary
Pepper and salt to taste
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400. Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
Slice sausage and set aside.
Cut up baby potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Slice the red and yellow bell peppers into bite-sized pieces. Slice the yellow onion into bite-sized pieces. In a mixing bowl, add the olive oil and dried rosemary. Mix in the potatoes and the rest of the vegetables, adding salt and pepper to taste. (I like lots of extra pepper.)
Add sausage pieces and mix again. Place all on the prepared pan and roast for 35-45 minutes (until the potatoes are done).