One-Pot Italian Sausage & Rice in Tomato Sauce

I'm so proud of this dish, yet so sad that I didn't get a photograph. I was too keen to eat and skipped the entire process, though I am known to photograph everything I do, just in case! Looking through older pictures, I see tons of dishes with no clue as to what they are...which is even more unfortunate.

I can tell you what the basis of some of these things are...chili, chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, cranberry tartlets topped with seckel pears and the same with apple instead...but what are the recipes!? Each of these things has been an original that I came up with at that very moment and failed to find time to write down...and, as I recall, each was exceptionally delicious. The sweets, for sure!

But here we have the opposite dilemma and a far less saddening one. Perhaps, next time I make the dish, which will surely be again, I can take a nice picture! Until then, let me tell you what I did.

My inspiration came from Gina Neely's "Get Yo' Man Chicken," a really flavorful dish of chicken in tomato sauce. It's fairly incredible, let me tell you. She puts a decent amount of herbs and lemon pepper into the sauce, which cooks with the chicken, leaving you with a massive punch of flavor and some really moist meat. I love it! In Gina's dish, you soften onions, brown chicken thighs, and cook it all in tomato sauce; then you serve it alongside buttered rice. For mine, you pretty much do the same thing, but replace the chicken with Italian sausage and add a bunch of rice to the mixture to create a truly "one pot" dish. What you're left with is a pot full of rice and sausage that's absolutely covered in a really flavorful tomato sauce. I'm just not sure how this could be simpler or create less of a mess to clean up later! It was a really exciting moment for me :)

Before I get to the actual recipe, though, I want to point out that this is so versatile, you can really do it with any combination of meat, vegetables, and liquid that you like. All you have to do is make sure that you have enough liquid for the rice to absorb and heat coming from above and below so that your meat and vegetables are fully cooked on all sides--solution, cook your meal in the oven or with a lid on the pot. This particular dish was cooked on the stove top without a lid, but that was because I was afraid the tomato sauce wouldn't cook down properly without the intense heat of the burner or the ability to evaporate and thicken. The next time I make this, however, I'm going to try putting it in a 400 degree oven for the same period of time and see what happens. I'm confident the results will be the same!


Italian Sausage and Rice in Tomato Sauce (makes about 4-6 servings)

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 Italian sausages (whichever you like: plain, hot, sweet)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 1/4 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup red wine
• one 28-oz can of San Marzano tomatoes, pureed (or the equivalent of any tomato sauce you prefer)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 1/2 cups white Basmati rice
• 2 tbsp chopped, fresh Italian Parsley (basil would be delicious, as well)

Set a 3-quart or larger saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and sausages, browning on all sides. This should only take a few minutes. Transfer the meat to a plate.

Add the onion to the pan and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add half the chicken stock and all of the wine, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat to high and reduce by half, about three minutes. Add the remaining chicken stock, tomato sauce, herbs, salt, pepper, and rice, stirring quickly to combine. Place the sausages back in the pan, slipping them below the liquid, and simmer on medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Flip the sausages over and continue to cook for another ten minutes. 

Once done, you'll find the sausages simply sitting atop a bed of rice and thick tomato sauce. Ensure your rice and meat are fully cooked and serve!

Remember, though, you can try various methods for ensuring your meat is fully cooked--place a lid on the pot for stove top cooking, place the entire dish (sans lid) into a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, or even slice the sausage so it cooks more quickly and evenly without turning. Your results may differ slightly, but experimentation is always worth the desired end result.

Also, try this dish with other meat, vegetable, and liquid combinations! If you're looking for something particularly easy, just brown some meat, add your liquids to the pan to deglaze, then throw in the rice, browned meat, and whole (but washed) vegetables and place in a 375-400 degree oven for as long as it should take to cook your meat! Likely 20-40 minutes, depending (20 would be sausages, 40 would be bone-in chicken thighs). You can even do this with a whole chicken!

Anyway, good luck and happy eating :)