Hog butchering is often done during the winter on Amish farmsteads. The job is messy, tedious, and labor-intensive. Who wants to do that in the middle of July? So the big job of butchering hogs is saved for a cold winter’s day, usually in February or March. A whole family will band together to tackle it or an Amish church will do it. It’s not a pretty scene but, in the end, they’ll come away with all the hams, sausage, and chops needed for a year until it is time for the next “butchering day.” The ground sausage will end up in dishes like this Hearty Amish Winter Sausage and Potato Casserole
Elizabeth Coblentz, the original Amish Cook, wrote about hog butchering in an early column. She wrote about it with graphic accuracy. Back in those days I would try to sell the column to newspapers by sending a sales packet with sample Amish Cook writings in it. I sent one of my packets to Ron Krueger, food editor of The Flint Journal in Michigan. He couldn't be persuaded to subscribe to The Amish Cook (a huge disappointment to me at the time) but he wanted to run one column, the one about hog butchering because he found it "fascinating." So, with my blessing, he published it. And that concluded the column's briefest of runs in The Flint Journal.
One of the most prized meats to be scored on butchering day is just regular ol’ sausage. Ground sausage can be added to soups, chilis, casseroles, and so much more. It can be blended with hamburger, which allows the supply of each to last longer. It can even be blended with venison.
Delicious Sausage Casserole
You can use store-bought bulk sausage for this hearty Amish Winter Sausage and Potato Casserole. That is what my parents did. You can also cut the recipe down, which is what my parents did. They cut it by two-thirds. And you can vary it. The recipe seems very heavy on peas for my taste, if I were making it I’d probably up the amount of sausage while reducing – but definitely not eliminating – the peas.
The sausage fries up very well and fresh sausage will fill your house with a wonderful smell!
Bake until the cheese is nice and golden!
You can see this casserole is choc-full of peas and potatoes. If I were making it, I might reduce both of those and have more sausage and cheese. But you can experiment with proportions.
This is definitely a recipe that is popular in Amish kitchens during winter!
So, here is an amazing recipe that comes from an Amish cook in Indiana for a hearty winter-with-a-splash-of-spring sausage casserole (the splash of spring are the peas!)
🐖Sausage and Potato Casserole Ingredients
- 3 pounds sausage, crumbled
- 8 large potatoes
- 2 quarts peas
- 2 small onions
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
- 4 cans water
- 1 cup grated cheese
📋Casserole Instructions
- Brown sausage and onions in frying pan.
- Peel and slice potatoes thinly.
- Put together in roaster, the meat and the vegetables.
- Mix soup and water with salt and pepper and pour over meat and vegetable mixture.
- Top with cheese.
- Bake at 350 for 1 hour covered then uncover and bake for 1 hour more or until potatoes are done.
🐖More Amish Sausage Recipes
Pure comfort food!
This is a really hearty, filling casserole also!
Easy!
Delicious!
🖨️Printer-Friendly Sausage and Potato Casserole
Amish Winter Sausage and Potato Casserole
Ingredients
- 3 pounds sausage crumbled
- 8 large potatoes peeled and sliced
- 2 quarts peas
- 2 small onions diced
- 1 tablespoon sakt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
- 4 soup cans water
- 1 cup cheese grated cheddar
Instructions
- Brown sausage and onions in frying pan.
- Peel and slice potatoes thinly.
- Put together in roTop with cheese. the meat and the vegetables.
- Mix soup and water with salt and pepper and pour over meat and vegetable mixture.
- Top with cheese.
- Bake at 350 for 1 hour covered then uncover and bake for 1 hour more or until potatoes are done.
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