Football Sunday Food

Today I tried a new crock pot recipe for football Sunday at the bar potluck.  It came from my book Pillsbury Doughboy Slow Cooker recipes.  Based on the feedback I received, people loved it.  I wasn't crazy about it but that is because I'm not a fan of fennel and the Johnsonville mild and hot ground bulk sausage that I used had a heavy fennel taste.  It was a good choice for a party becaue it filled the crock pot and was easy.  It was a bit messy to eat but not too bad if you have the right bread.  To make it for a potluck I topped the meat sauce with mozzarella and cheddar before I left for the bar.  It continued to heat on high for an hour then on low until people began to eat it.  It was all cooked so it just needed to warm and melt the cheese.  I'll list the original recipe and then my modified version.

OPEN FACED PIZZA SANDWICHES
1 1/2 lb. bulk Italian pork sausage
1/2 C. onion, chopped
1 medium (1 C.) green bell pepper, chopped
1 (4.5oz.) jar sliced mushrooms, drained
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1 (15 oz.) can pizza sauce
1 (9.5 oz.) pkg. frozen herb or cheese Texas toast
3 oz. (1/4 C.) mozzarella cheese, finely shredded

In a large skillet, cook sausage and onion over medium heat until sausage is no longer pink, stirring occasionally.  Drain.  In a 3.5-4 qt. slow cooker, combine sausage, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms and tomato paste, mix well.  Top with pizza sauce.  Cover; cook on low for 6-8 hours.  About 10 minutes before serving, heat toast as directed on package.  Stir sausage mixture.  Spoon 1/4 C. sausage mixture onto each warm toast slice.  Sprinkle with 2 T. cheese. 

Since I was doing it for a group of people I wanted to make it easier to serve and more of it.  This is what I did.

PIZZA SLOPPY JOES
1 lb. sweet yellow onion, chopped
2 C. red bell pepper, chopped
1 lb. Johnsonville Hot Italian sausage
1 lb. Johnsonville Mild Italian sausage
1-1.4 lb. lean ground beef
2 (4.5 oz.) cans sliced mushrooms
15 oz. can pizza sauce, rinse can with a touch of water
15 oz. can tomato sauce,  rinse can with a touch of water
2 T. tomato paste
1/2 t. coarse black pepper
1/2 t. dried parsley
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
Topping:
1 C. mozzarella, shredded
1/2 C. sharp cheddar, shredded
2 sweet baguettes, sliced

In a large skillet, saute chopped onion and bell pepper till soft, place in crock pot.  In same skillet, cook ground meats till no longer pink.  Drain in a colander, rinse under water to remove grease and add to crock pot along with remaining ingredients.  Cook on high for 2 hours, turn off and let cool and place in refrigerator.  The next morning turn crock pot to low for 1 hour to take the chill off the pot, then up to high for 2 hours or until hot, top with cheese, turn it to warm and cook until cheese melts or until ready to serve.  If you are cooking it all in the same day cook on low for 6-8 hours and add cheese the last hour to half hour.  Serve on sliced baguette.

Note:  Chiabatta is not a good choice for this dish unless you where serving large sandwiches and sliced it lenghtwise, stuffing it with the filling.  The bread is too holey when you slice it.  You need the bread to be denser so you can pick it up keeping the toppings on the bread.

Next Time:  If I make it again I will probably try the following.  Fresh mushrooms vs canned, instead of the purchased pizza sauce I will make my own and just use two can's of tomato sauce and doctor it up with more spices, add some chopped black olives and maybe use a green bell pepper instead of red or along with the red for additional flavor.  I'll also look into other sausages that are less fennel tasting.