Potato-Tomato Bake with Sausage

This one's a keeper. It's made like Au Gratin Potatoes except with a chunky tomato sauce instead of creamy cheese sauce. You can add cheese if you like, remove the sausage and you have a hearty vegan dish. Serve as a side or as a meal with a salad. Me? I served it with fresh baked bread and vegetable pasta for Sunday dinner. :)

Grease a good sized baking dish and preheat oven to 375. 

Take 2-3 potatoes and slice them into thin rounds with a mandoline or knife. Place the slices in a bowl of water so they don't brown. Also, slice up a small onion.

Place a layer of spaghetti sauce or seasoned diced tomatoes in the bottom of the dish. This would work very well. Add a layer of potato slices, a layer of onion, and a layer of Italian sausage (raw or cooked, mine was raw and it added a nice flavor). Add another layer of potatoes, then another layer of sauce. Top with Italian breadcrumbs and bake for 1 hour covered, 30-45 minutes uncovered. 

Cookie's Marinara Sauce

My alter ego's nickname is Cookie.

Why Cookie? Because she's Cookie the cook, and her friends are Drunkie the drunk, Studdie the stud, and DJ-ee the DJ. 

She thinks she's an Italian-American socialite. 

Any good Italian-American Sunday dinner needs good bread, red wine, and a nice homemade marinara sauce.

Cookie's Marinara

1/4 cup olive oil

2-3 large garlic cloves, minced

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 15oz cans diced tomatoes

2 15oz cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes

1 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp dried basil

2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 cup red wine

Up to 1 Tbsp crushed red pepper, optional

Heat the oil in a large pot. Sweat the garlic and onion. Add remaining ingredients and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally and breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. 

Mangia. :)

To make true Sunday gravy, simply add sausage/meatballs/porkbone/ meat etc... ;)