Autumn Sausage Casserole (In the Crock Pot )

WiGal's Note:

Easy peasy recipe adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking. After looking through the reviews at her blog, I see that cooks who used a 6.5 quart crock pot had problems with this cooking too much. My crock pot is a 4 quart size and I have not experienced that problem. I do think the stirring is a good suggestion and have changed the directions accordingly. You could use any sausage you want but the sausage does need to be partially cooked or smoked. Try chicken with artichokes, chicken with apple, kielbaska, Italian, andouille, or whatever sausage your family enjoys. This uses LEFTOVER rice so plan for that. I love leftovers. :) This could be gluten free if you are very careful with your choice of sausage.

• Total Time: 4 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 4 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 ½ cups sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces or 1 ½ cups carrots
• 3 cups cooked rice
• 1 lb sausage , sliced into bite size pieces
• 2 large apples , chopped (no need to peel)
• 1 cup yellow onion , chopped
• ½ cup raisins
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• ½ teaspoon cumin (optional)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar (optional)
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1⁄3; cup chicken broth
• 15 ounces black beans , drained

Directions:

1. If you are going to use uncooked sausage, brown on the stove top, and drain before adding to the crockpot.
2. Otherwise, line your 4 quart sized crock pot with a slow cooker liner, dump ingredients into the crock, and stir well.
3. Cover and cook on low for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, or until the orange vegetable is tender.
4. STIR once during the cooking time. I have not made this on high but am guessing an hour with more frequent stirring.

Reviews

[Motivated Mama]

Pretty good! The ingredients were very intriguing. I used carrots and it came out very sweet, so I'll omit the sugar next time. I have a 6 qt. crock pot so I just made sure to stir it often so it would cook evenly. It did, but it still stuck to the pot pretty well. I agree with another reviewer that this may be better on the stove top. Thanks for posting, I'll be making this again.

[Sam #3]

The flavours were great but the dish was partially soggy partially hard as a rock. The rice around the edges were very hard and the rice and veggies inside were very soft. I would make this again, but not in a crock pot. On the stove top for about 30-60 minutes would be better. I forgot the raisins but really want to remember them next time

[Bill Butler]

Wow this was really good and so easy too. I followed the recipe and went with the Sweet Potatoes. They went well with the spices. I bought them at Trader Joe's already cut up into french fry sizes and just diced them a bit. I also used TJ's frozen pre-cooked rice (a 10 oz bag). The dish is so colorful when you mix it all together. Thanks for the tip.