A tray here, a tray there
Wowwwww, where do the months go? Oh! I know. They go into other projects, don’t you see? No? The podcast has been getting my attention, as has Beautycounter (and I just did a write up on my business here!), and recipes have been on the back burner (literally and figuratively). I’m still rocking my air fryer game. The air fryer has been a major source of straight up F-U-N for me in the kitchen. This is something I didn’t even realize I needed! Another source of fun? Who knew adults needed that!!
Want to know about an additional source of kitchen fun for me? The delicious, the easy, the wonderful–sheet tray bake! One tray, one girl, one oven. Don’t get weird about it, just tray with me and call it good.
Neither here nor there
I love being transparent on here, I think that’s the beauty of blogging that made it so darn popular in the first place 15+ years ago. So here is my transparency: my business is growing! Partially in that cute, “omg! wow where does this come from it’s all so eAsY!!!” sort of way but also partially in that “omg!! I am sinking in a boat with my floaties on and what am I doing!!!” way. Ya catch me? I’m upleveling, shifting, sorting, doing the kinds of things that make the box of comfort seem so, so far away.
And it’s awesome! But since it’s still just me around here, that means a calendar full of recipes turns into “I’ll share the recipes that I really want to get out into the world when I can”. You should see all the recipes that I took OFF the calendar to clear up room for the new projects!
Anyway. Don’t worry, I cannot… not… make and photograph recipes. It puts me in this space of calm that feels integral to my personality. Like, it’s needed. But it’s less my job and more my fun, you know?
Sheet Tray Italian Chicken Sausage Bake
Ingredients
- 1 pound mild or hot ground Italian chicken sausage
- 1 pound 4-5 small to medium sized new potatoes, cut into quarter wedges
- 1 medium bell pepper seeds and top removed and sliced into 1 inch thick strips
- 1 medium red or yellow onion sliced in half and sliced into wedges
- 1 bulb fresh fennel tops and stalks chopped off (save some of the feathery greens for garnish!), sliced in half and then cut into wedges
- 1 medium lemon sliced into rounds
- 1 head garlic sliced in half horizontally
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds crushed or coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- olive oil for drizzling about 1/4 cup total
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400.
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On a large baking tray, combine the potatoes, onion, fennel, garlic halves and lemon slices. Drizzle with the olive oil and toss to coat evenly. Season with the fennel seeds, sea salt and black pepper.
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Place the dressed vegetables into the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
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Meanwhile, split the chicken sausage meat in half, then split each half again. From each quarter, roll out three meatballs, for a total of 12 meatballs.
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After the initial 20 minutes, take the sheet tray out, toss the vegetables around a little bit, then snuggle the meatballs onto the tray. Try to get them to touch the tray itself so they all cook evenly. Bake for another 20 minutes.
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After these 20 minutes, take the sheet tray out, turn the oven to broil, adjust your baking rack so it’s at its highest level and place the tray back into the oven to broil for 3-5 minutes. Keep a close eye on at this time! You’re looking to brown the potatoes and meatballs specifically.
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Take the tray out and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with chopped fennel frond, extra olive oil if needed and even a squeeze of fresh lemon juice if you like!