SERVES:
4
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup peeled, finely diced carrot
1/2 cup chopped sugar snap peas (see hints)
2 - 3 Tbs chopped parsley
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, crumbled
3 Tbs butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne (optional)
toasted country toast as needed
PROCEDURE:
There is a bit of knife work involved with the vegetables so go ahead and do that.
Then start the cooking process by browning up one pound of crumbled Italian sausage in a large heavy bottomed pan on the stovetop.
Once the sausage has browned up, take it out of the pan and put it on a clean plate to rest....leaving the rendered fat behind in the pan.
Then add about 1/2 cup diced Vidalia onion and 1/2 cup finely diced peeled carrot and cook that along for a few minutes.
Then add 1/2 cup chopped sugar snap peas and cook those until they're tender crisp and then take those out of the pan as well.
At that point, add 3 Tbs of butter to the pan, melt that, and stir in 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and let that cook along for a minute.
Then add 3 cups of milk, stir that in and bring it up to a simmer continuing to stir to incorporate the flour.
And then, just as it starts to thicken up, add the sausage back to the pan and add the cooked vegetables, add a handful of fresh chopped parsley if you're using it, season it to taste and let it cook along for a couple of minutes and it's good to go.
Season it with a little cayenne pepper if you like a little heat and serve it up over the top of sliced toasted country bread.
HINTS:
Substitute regular peas, fresh or frozen, or snow peas or even thinly sliced asparagus or very small broccoli florets for the sugar snap peas.
If you are using sugar snap peas, it's not necessary but you can de-string them by pulling the stringy part off of the top of each pea before chopping.