eggplant sausage lasagne {tampa food photographer}

another "ground beef makeover:" thanks to johnsonville sausage, i had that gorgeous new sur la table baking dish to show it off in. 

 

the original recipe is here, at allrecipes.com.

my changes included:

-eliminated the pasta, replacing it altogether with thinly sliced, peeled eggplant

-replaced the ground beef with ground sausage

-doubled the fresh garlic (and started the layering with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh minced garlic)

-eliminated the mushrooms

true confession here: i intended to use the mushrooms.  i'm frankly embarrassed and in heaps of trouble right now with the husband for letting perfectly good fresh produce go to waste over the last few months.  i promise, i'm working on that.

 this was delish.  my only tweak next time will be to add ten minutes to the bake time, and that with a foil cover to begin steaming the eggplant.  it was a wee bit un-appetizingly chewy this time.  bless my friend stacy and her family for loving it anyway.

1-2-3 Jambalaya

this month, the Allrecipes Allstars crew partnered with Johnsonville Sausage to re-make some classic ground beef dishes, and to try some of Johnsonville's quick recipes on the Allrecipes.com website. the first recipe we tried is 1-2-3 Jambalaya.  while i'm not a rice girl (unless it's sticky jasmine rice, then i'm all in & swimming without my floaties), i did enjoy this recipe with my gang, who was all-too-happy to enjoy a Sunday-after-church hearty and spicy rice dish.  using the quick rice blend made it super fast and easy, but i do think we'll make this again and try cauliflower rice or a long-grain and wild rice blend.

special thanks to Johnsonville, who provided samples of their sausage for our cooking and sampling pleasure!  they also spoiled the Allstars with a rockin' casserole dish set from Sur La Table.  i'll be showing those off soon!