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Italian Sausage and Rice

In a large skillet, lightly brown:

1 pound Italian sausage--sweet or hot, your preference (If your sausage is tubular, either slice it or squeeze it out of the casings and break it up into pieces small enough to share a fork with the other ingredients.)

Remove it from the skillet with most of the fat.
In the remaining fat, cook:

1/2 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (or a 4-oz. can, drained)

Add to the skillet:

a 1-pound can of tomatoes (diced is good)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Remove from heat and add:

2 cups cooked rice (I like Basmati or Uncle Ben's Converted in this recipe)

Put the sausage back into the skillet also, and stir to combine all ingredients well.

Pour into a greased casserole with a cover. (If I remember correctly, my 1.6 liter Corningware French White casserole is adequate unless I double the recipe which, because it's so yummy, I almost always do. This is one of those dishes that's even better the next day.)

Bake, covered, in a preheated 375°F oven for 45 minutes.
Leaving cover in place, remove casserole from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Top with chopped fresh parsley if you have it (I rarely do).
Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

Makes 4-6 servings.

This has always been one of my favorite recipes from Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery (First Edition, c. 1966; Fawcett Publications, Inc., New York; Volume 10, page 1636). The aromas are tantalizing! Cook the Basmati, which means "queen of fragrance,", to whet your appetite while you're cutting up the veggies. Then you might just as well let yourself drool when the sautéing of the sausage releases the beguiling smell of fennel. You're gonna anyway, so just go with it! But don't lean over the skillet!

And unless you're really committed to bland flavors, go with the hot sausage! When all is said and done, it will not be as hot as medium salsa. It will jjust be fabulously, addictively delicious.

The Tuesday Special is a popular choice.

Alma says the eyes are a lot like oysters.
The purple lettuce creeps her out,
but she needs the roughage.