One Pot Kale & Sausage Bake

Last year we starting doing a CSA as a way to eat more locally and try new things. That particular CSA had a lot of greens we don't usually eat, like kale so we had to come up with creative ways to make kale palatable for us.

This particular dish has become a favorite of ours and even though our new CSA farm doesn't do quite as much kale, we have on occasion bought a bag specifically to make this dish. My husband thinks I just like the sauce, cheese, and sausage---and I do, but without the kale, the dish is missing something.

This recipe is a great way to introduce kale to people who haven't had it before or to fussy eaters. This is also a crazy easy recipe and reheats well. We often make big batches of it for several nights when we know we'll be too busy to cook.

Kale (1-2 bunches or 1 bag)

Tomato Basil Spaghetti Sauce (1 jar)

Cheese (we use a variety of shredded mozzarella, whole mozzarella balls, and whatever cheese we have that needs to be used up)

Jalapeno Chicken Sausage (from TJ's, you can use any kind of sausage or omit it)

Because most of our produce comes from a CSA, I'm really fussy about making sure the greens are cleaned well. So pulling the leaves off of the stem is one of the first things I do, as well as inspect for any hidden passengers. Once all the stems are removed I wash and dry the greens.

I also slice the sausage into bite size pieces, cut up whatever cheeses need to be cut, and layer the bottom of the baking dish with a little sauce.

Preheat oven to 375.

Put down a small layer of sauce, followed by 1/2 the kale, sausage, and 1/2-3/4 of the cheese, and then more kale. Finally top off with the rest of the sauce and then the remainder of the cheese.

Bake at 375-400 for 30-45 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and browned.

Cover with lid or plastic wrap and keep refrigerated.

Reheat leftovers at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

My husband has been trying to eat less meat, so when he requests I leave the sausage out, I tend to make a separate dish just for him. In lieu of the sausage I'll put in green peppers, zucchini, squash, eggplant, bok choy, turnips, radish, and any other veggies I have on hand that I think will work well.

To make this dish vegan, replace the cheese with your favorite cheese-alternative.

I always serve this with garlic bread on the side, usually using homemade bread.