Cooking for two
Built with 4 basics, hash is a heavenly dish
This sausage and sweet potato dish makes a quick and easy breakfast, brunch or dinner. The recipe is from Cast Iron Paleo: 101 One-Pan Recipes For Quick and Delicious Meals … Plus Hassle-Free Cleanup by Pamela Ellgen (Dec. 15, Ulysses Press, $15.95).
The Paleo diet, as Ellgen explains, consists of the foods man ate before the agricultural age, so basically whatever foods could be hunted or gathered, but not foods that were cultivated.
We found this recipe appealing because it calls for just four primary ingredients: sausage, sweet potatoes, onion and eggs.
Following the recipe exactly, we found we didn’t have quite enough fat in the skillet after browning the sausage, so we added a bit of coconut oil (one of the fats Ellgen mentions in the “Paleo Diet Basics” chapter) in order to fry the sweet potatoes.
We also improvised with a handful of fresh herbs at Sausage and Sweet Potato Hash the end for brightness and color.
The fried eggs in this dish are optional, and do require dirtying another pan, which defeats the purpose of a one-pan recipe but worth the extra cleanup.
The resulting dish — a combination of creamy sweet potatoes, spicy sausage, savory onion and rich egg yolk brightened with a handful of fresh herbs — was irresistible.
Sausage and Sweet Potato Hash
4 ounces mild or hot
sausage, casings removed Coconut oil, as needed 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes Salt and ground black pepper ½ red onion, halved and
thinly sliced 2 fried eggs Handful fresh parsley or cilantro leaves, optional Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. When hot, crumble the sausage into the pan. Cook 5 minutes or until sausage is browned and fat is rendered. Using a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to a dish. If there isn’t much fat in the skillet, add a teaspoon or so of coconut oil.
Add the sweet potato cubes; season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 10 minutes. Add the onion and cook 5 minutes more. Return the sausage to the pan and stir gently to combine and cook 1 to 2 minutes more.
Serve topped with fried eggs, if desired, and the fresh herbs.
Makes 2 servings.