This is my favorite thing to eat in August when corn and green beans are ready, there is lots of summer squash, and new potatoes are just coming in. It’s colorful, full of bright flavors, and totally satisfying for breakfast, lunch, or supper. It’s good cold as leftovers. It practically makes itself, and unlike many of my recipes, this one contains neither garlic nor Parmesan.
You can find everything but the salt, pepper, and olive oil at Upper Valley farmers’ markets and farm stands or maybe your CSA or backyard. Buy locally! Eat seasonally!
Sausage, New Potato & Vegetable Hash
Serves 4-6 people
Ingredients
4 pork sausages – ideally Italian or garlic
1 red pepper, sliced into strips (green or poblano are fine too)
1 large red onion, cut into chunks (other onions or equivalent amount of leek or scallions are fine too)
1 pound new potatoes, skins on, sliced ⅛ to ¼ inch thick.
1-2 yellow summer squash or zucchini cut into slices or small chunks (yellow crookneck is my favorite, but hard to find unless you grow them yourself.)
Kernels from an ear or two of corn (use up day- or days-old ears that are drying up in your fridge)
A handful of green beans cut or snapped in half (kale or broccoli are fine in a pinch)
2 T olive oil or fat (lard or chicken fat works well if you have some sitting around)
Salt & pepper
A handful of fresh herbs, chopped (I like cilantro or parsley)
Directions
1. In a large skillet (10” or so), brown sausages on medium-high heat.
2. When sausages are half cooked, add onions and peppers and some salt.
3. Let peppers and onions get nice and browned before stirring.
4. When sausages are just cooked, remove them and the onions and peppers and set them aside. Pour ¼ cup water into the pan to “deglaze” it – that is, get all the tasty browned flavors and bits off the pan. Add this pan juice to the sausages.
5. Wipe out the pan to remove any sausage bits left. Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil on medium-high and add the thinly sliced potatoes in a single layer. Salt well. Let them brown them well before turning.
6. Add corn kernels and summer squash. Let veggies brown before turning.
7. Break apart sausage into chunks and add sausage, onions, peppers, and pan juice back into hash along with chopped green beans.
8. Cook until green beans are tender and sausage is heated again. Test a potato, too, to make sure it’s cooked through.
9. Garnish with fresh chopped herbs. Serve with hot sauce.
Let’s talk about skillets
This hash is ideally cooked in a large skillet so that the vegetables sit in a single layer to brown equally.
Don’t have a nonstick pan? You don’t need one if you add ingredients to a sizzling hot cast iron or steel pan. Then lower heat to medium and don’t turn the ingredients until they’re browned, when they’ll start to release on their own.
Keep an eye out at yard sales or thrift stores for old cast iron or steel skillets as more healthful, more beautiful, and longer-lasting alternatives to nonstick pans. (They’re not cheap if you get them new.)
– Bethany Fleishman
Photo credit: Julia A. Reed