Pleasure Practices with Sami Schalk: Stick-to-your-ribs fall meals

Fall is the time for warm, hearty meals.

Welcome to fall, readers. The days are getting shorter and cooler every week. As a person who struggles with seasonal depression, I try hard to not let the fall get me panicked about winter. Instead, I embrace the cozy vibes, the still-warm sunny days (when we have them), and the nights that can be brightened and heated with some blankets, onesies, and a little candlelight/bonfire magic. 

This time of year also makes me start craving what people where I grew up would call “stick-to-your-ribs food”: the warm, hearty, often meat-and-potatoes-based meals that keep you full for a while…and maybe put you into a food coma. For a lot of folks that means making stews, soups, pot pies, and pot roast. I don’t know how to make those things, but what I do know how to make is a goddamn hash brown casserole. (Shoutout to the Midwest for coming up with “hot dish” in all its variations. I still just call it casserole, but if you wanna call it “hot dish,” do you. This recipe is in that family for sure.)

This hash brown casserole I’m sharing is a version of something my mom used to make. I made it recently, inspired by my partner who made one the morning of their baby shower, which brought back fond memories. It also reminded me that it’s pretty easy to whip this up in advance the night before and just stick it in the oven in the morning. So this is at once a nostalgia food—which I’ve written about here before—and a good fall stick-to-your-ribs dish that you can prepare ahead of time. And, if you’re like me and live alone,  you can eat it for breakfast for several days after.

The pleasures from this one abound! I love eating a big protein-heavy breakfast to keep me going, but especially on fall and winter weekdays when the sun isn’t even up when I get out of bed for work. The warm substantive sustenance helps offset the lack of sunlight as I start my day. So, this month’s pleasure practice is making (or buying, no judgment!) warm, hearty, stick-to-your-ribs meals with this breakfast casserole as one of many delicious options.

Stick-To-Your-Ribs Sausage And Hash Brown Casserole

For my vegetarian readers, substitute cream of mushroom for the cream of bacon soup and veggie sausage crumbles for regular sausage.

Ingredients:

• 1 large (20 or 24 oz) bag of shredded hash browns. Frozen or refrigerated works. I like the o’brien style that comes with peppers and onions mixed in too. A little bonus veggies ya know?
• 1 can of cream of bacon soup
• 1 lb of ground sausage (I prefer a hot sausage myself)
• 8 oz bag of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• Salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste
• Cooking spray

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook and crumble the sausage, drain the fat, and set the crumbles aside. 
• In a large mixing bowl combine the hash browns, can of soup, garlic powder, and two thirds of the bag of cheese. 
• Grease a casserole dish. I used a 7-by-11-inch dish and the casserole was pretty thick/deep. You could use a slightly larger dish to make a slightly thinner casserole.
• Put half of the hash brown mix into the bottom of the greased dish. Sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (skip the red pepper flakes if you don’t want spice). You don’t need a ton of salt because the soup is pretty salty. 
• Add the sausage on top as your next layer as evenly as possible. 
• Top the sausage with the remaining hash brown mixture. Again, add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes lightly to that second hash brown layer. 
• Finally, sprinkle your remaining cheese on top. 
• Put the casserole in the oven, baking at 350°F for 45-55 min. until it’s golden on top and bubbling. 
• Remove from the oven, and let sit to cool slightly then serve.

Now you’ve got a badass bitch hearty, rich, protein-y, stick-to-your-ribs breakfast with leftovers that are easy and tasty to re-heat. Enjoy, babes!