Welcome to another episode of “A Tasty and Healthy New Year Resolution Challenge”! When challenged to create a main dish using California Olive Oil and Bob’s Red Mill Quinoa Grain, I immediately went to comfort food. It’s typically a one pot dish that serves as a main entree for your meal. Casseroles came to mind and I thought of my favorite Dominican casserole, which is layered with mashed sweet plantains and in the middle, a layer of ground beef or ground sausage is waiting to surprise you. Topped with shredded cheese, it’s one of my favorite meals when I go home and here I recreated it using quinoa as my main layers.

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Before Baking…
Sausage & Quinoa Casserole
Serves 4 as a main dish, 8 as a side dish
1 cup quinoa grain
2 cups chicken broth
Salt & Pepper
4 thick sausage links, with casing removed
1 red pepper, de-seeded and chopped
1/2 sweet yellow onion, chopped
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup California Olive Oil
1 cup shredded cheese
  1. Simmer chicken broth and when bubbling, add quinoa and cook over medium low heat until add the broth is absorbed and the quinoa is cooked all the way through. Toss in a bowl and cool.
  2. While quinoa is cooking, heat a cast-iron pan over high heat and cook the sausage, making sure to break up the pieces. When halfway cooked and most of the fat is in the pan, add chopped onions and peppers and cook until tender. Reserve.
  3. Whisk together egg yolks and olive oil. Fold into cooled quinoa.
  4. Preheat oven to 400F degrees and grease an 8×8 inch pan with olive oil. Place a layer of quinoa on the bottom, alternating with the sausage mixture and topping with more quinoa. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top.
  5. Place in oven and bake for 15 to 25 minutes, until cheese is melted and casserole is cooked all the way through. If you want, finish it off on broil for 3 minutes to really broil your cheese.
  6. Serve with a side salad and enjoy!

Cook’s Notes: 
Remember you can cook grains in any liquid! This time we used chicken broth, but you can cook quinoa in vegetable stock, carrot juice, or wine. Experiment with different liquids!

Whisking egg yolks and olive oil, not only adds structure to this casserole, but it develops a velvety texture when cooked, as well as adding overall flavor.

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After Baking…
 

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39 Comments

  1. The plantains in the original casserole sound intriguing; I’ve never tried them. I like that you mix the Arbosana oil and the egg yolks.

  2. Rachel Blom says:

    We just tried quinoa on Sunday and everybody liked it so I was looking for some quinoa recipes. I bet everybody would like this because it’s cheesy & they love cheese. Good idea to mix w/Arbosana olive oil to give the cheese a velvety texture.
    racblom@juno.com

  3. What a great idea! My Dad has a sausage and egg bake he has made for years, but I love this recipe. I am HUGE lover of quinoa though, it is so versatile:-) I bet “Arbosana” olive oil would be awesome in this casserole, with the peppery flavors the olive oil has:-) oxox, Terra

  4. A quinoa casserole is such a cool idea – – I’ve only had quinoa in salads. I have to give this a try and that cheese crust is making me crave this asap 🙂

  5. I love, love, love this!! I’ve acquired a love of quinoa and the addition of sausage and cheese – well, hello to my new heart throb!

  6. only you would make quinoa into an indulgent casserole. that’s why i love ya!!! hehehehe. this looks delicious! thanks for sharing about the dominican recipe. i love learning about authentic culture dishes!