What’s better than combining the flavors of summer with the warm comfort of a winter chowder? I know Jess and I keep talking about freezing, preserving, canning etc. to get the most from your CSA shares, this recipe is exactly why. This time of year Jess and I dig into our freezers and pull out the bounty of summer foods. Why not make yourself a goal of never putting food into the swap box this next year? Try it!
One of the meats I received in my share box at last pickup was a sweet italian sausage, one of our favorites! You can use this meat for any meal! Sometimes it comes in links and sometimes it is ground. Today mine was ground.
Ingredients:
- Sweet Italian Sausage
- 3-4 potatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 stalks of chopped celery
- 1 teaspoon of dried herbs of your choice
- 3 cups of chicken or veggie broth
- 1 onion
- 2 cups of corn (frozen from the summer!)
- 12 oz of evaporated milk
Procedure:
Start by browning the italian sausage in a heavy pot, the same one you are making your chowder in, a one pot meal! I used my medium sized enameled cast iron pot. Make sure the sausage gets nice and brown, you want the bits on the bottom of the pot, they add so much flavor!
Remove the sausage, placing it aside in a separate bowl. Then cook the onion until translucent, add the chopped celery and cook for 2-3 minutes. Place the 3 cups of chicken or veggie broth into the pan you did your browning in. Using a spoon gently scrape the bits off of the bottom of the pot. Add in the chopped potatoes.
Add the salt and dried herbs of your choice at this point. I also added in some granulated roasted garlic. Adding it in now will help the potatoes absorb the flavors.
Let that simmer away until the potatoes are fork tender.
At this point add the sausage back into the pot with the thawed summer corn.
Shake your can of evaporated milk well and add it to the pot.
I like to let it go on a low simmer for about 10 minutes then check the flavor. Add in more herbs, salt or pepper to taste. This chowder was served with a spinach side salad and some crusty bread. Enjoy!