Cooking Light: Turkey Sausage, Mushroom, and Potato Gratin

Jason and I are in saving mode. We have a February trip in the works for our dear friend’s 30^th birthday and we are also saving to buy a house, one day. That being said, I decided that I wanted to look for some budget friendly meals and Cooking Light came to the rescue! This Turkey Sausage, Mushroom, and Potato Gratin was the perfect Sunday dinner and it only costs $2.27 per serving. That is downright economical! I also shopped at Trader Joe’s which also helps your wallet. However, you can’t always find the right ingredients which can be frustrating. They didn’t have spicy Italian turkey sausage, they only had sweet Italian pork sausage, so I had to get creative. The pork sausage added some additional fat, I’m sure, but it ended up tasting delicious. I added quite a lot of red pepper flakes to achieve the spiciness that was missing and it worked perfectly.

First, prep all your ingredients so you really only have to throw everything in the pan. Dice the onion, slice the mushrooms, dice the potato, and shred your cheese. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Remove the casings from the sausage and brown in a large skillet (as the sausage was browning I added the red pepper flakes for some heat). Once the sausage is cooked through remove it from the pan and let it drain on a paper towel. Wipe out the pan and add a tablespoon of butter. Sauté the onion in the butter until soft and fragrant and then add your mushrooms. Cook for about 6 minutes and then add your potatoes. Cook for an additional 4-6 minutes or until the potatoes have browned slightly. They won’t be cooked through which is fine. Add your chicken stock and sausage to the pan and stir to combine. Pour the sausage mixture into a lightly greased casserole dish and top with Swiss cheese. Cover and bake for 30 minutes and then uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes. I let this sit for a couple minutes which I would recommend because it is piping hot! Spoon into a dish and top with fresh thyme.

This dinner was so satisfying and flavorful. The spiciness from the red pepper flakes was a necessary addition since I was using sweet Italian sausage. The mushrooms just soak up all that butter flavor and honestly I just love mushrooms and onions together. The perfect combo. This dinner takes a little while to cook, so I would recommend this for a weekend. I liked it so much that I’m planning to make it for my family the day before Christmas!