During the weekend, a huge amount of food is made and leftovers are inevitable. For the BBQ gatherings, fresh sausages are my number one choice, even though it’s a breakfast ingredient.
Obviously, the more you eat over the weekend the more you feel guilty about the extra calories, so looking at the leftover sausages in the fridge might trigger a health craze and salad will be your rebound meal.
So here is a recipe to use up the leftover sausages, with a healthy twist (that doesn’t include salad).
First, make a homemade tomato sauce, which is much healthier than store-bought tomato pulp. Using olive oil is a must as it acts to transport lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that is known for preventing certain types of cancer.
This recipe can be used as a base for many future meals: pasta, stir fries, soup, topping for fish…
You can also freeze in ice cube format. After freezing, remove the cubes from the container and store in a bag. For cooking small portions of sauce, adding that extra flavour in a casserole or braised concoctions, this is a practical kitchen trick that will save time and dirty dishes.
Ingredients
▪ 1kg ripe tomatoes
▪ 1 big onion
▪ 3 cloves of garlic
▪ 3 tablespoons olive oil
▪ 1/2 cup fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano, cilantro, basil)
▪ Freshly ground pepper
▪ Salt to taste
▪ 1 teaspoon caster sugar
Method: Blend all the ingredients in a food processor and simmer in a pan, on low-medium heat until it has reduced to your desired consistency (I go for half the volume of which it started out as).
Now for this quick lunch, late brunch or lazy dinner…
Ingredients
▪ 1 cup homemade tomato sauce
▪ 1 leftover sausage
▪ 2 eggs
▪ Fresh parsley
▪ 1 rye bread roll
Method: Preheat the oven to 200°C, layer the sliced leftover sausage in a dish, spill in the tomato sauce and carefully spoon in the eggs. Bake for 6-9 minutes, depending on how runny you want the yolks. Rotate at least once during the baking, as home ovens are not very keen on uniformly cooking whatever you put in them. Attention, eggs are not bad for you. It’s actually the perfect source of protein, and all those ideas about cholesterol, well you might want to start blaming the fried goods, instead of the occasional egg (specially this recipe that basically poaches the eggs in the tomato sauce, in the oven).
By Megan Melling
Photo by: Megan Melling
Megan Melling’s journey into the food world started in 2011 when she decided to enrol in Cookery and Food Production in Estoril. She was born American, but grew up in the Algarve, so she gets the best of two opposite culinary cultures. She has worked as a cook in Lisbon for the past year and is currently in the process of opening up a gourmet project in Lagos. Check out all of her personal recipes on her blog www.melsvittles.wordpress.com and facebook page Mel’s Vittles for some yummy photos and food facts.
www.facebook.com/pages/Mels-Vittles/111286668959220
