Wild Rice and Sausage Casserole

Submitted by The Fat Man

"This recipe is bi-cultural if you will – pork sausage from the South and wild rice from Minnesota, and I have to hand it to those folks from Minnesota on this one. We don’t grow wild rice down here, but it is delicious, so I order my wild rice from a reservation store at Leech Lake, Minnesota operated by the Band of Ojibwe. Of course, I will point out that Leech Lake is very near the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Try this recipe – it is simple and delicious."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 30mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Yields: 1 Casserole
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 1 lb pork sausage (your choice of hot or mild)
• 1 cup wild rice (not cooked)
• 1 cup white onion, diced
• 3⁄4 cup celery, diced
• 1⁄2 cup carrot, diced
• 1⁄2 cup bell pepper, diced (any color)
• 1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of celery soup
• water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• fresh black pepper (3 grinds (or more)

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash wild rice several times under cold water until water runs clear. Set aside.
3. Melt butter in skillet and then fry sausage over medium high heat, breaking up into as small pieces as possible. Do not overcook--cook just until all pink is gone. Remove sausage from skillet and set aside.
4. In same skillet saute onion, celery, carrot and bell pepper over medium high heat until just beginning to brown lightly. Toss frequently.
5. Add wild rice to skillet and continue to saute a while longer, tossing frequently to coat wild rice with oil but do not let it burn.
6. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
7. Add Cream of Celery soup to skillet and mix quickly, then add 2 soup cans of water and stir until well mixed.
8. When well mixed, add reserved sausage meat and mix thoroughly. Bring to a boil, immediately remove from stove and pour into a buttered casserole (at least 2 qts.) and cover with foil.
9. Place in oven and bake. After 30 minutes check and add a small amount of additional water if necessary, and stir well.
10. Cook until most liquid is absorbed, but not until casserole is dry, about an hour.

Reviews

[pamela t.]

Wonderful blend of flavors. I used homemade chorizo in this--so I guess my recipe is nearly tri-cultural. Easy to throw together, but pretty enough for a holiday dinner. Thanks for posting this one. Made for Fall PAC 2008

 

[karadale]

Awesome recipe!!!! I used to make wild rice & shrimp casserole, almost like this, oohhh this is soo good. So simple & easy to make. I added a tsp. of garlic chili sauce. YUMM-O Thanx for sharing. Glen of Coolidge, Arizona

 

[ChefLee]

Delicious! I love the ingredients of this casserole! My store only had a wild rice blend today (Zatarain's New Orleans style long grain and wild rice) so I adjusted the cooking method a little to use that. I cooked the rice stove-top with butter and chicken broth instead of water. I used red bell pepper to bring a balancing sweetness to the mix. (If I had all wild rice, I would have used green bell pepper because of the natural sweetness of pure wild rice). Then, since I used the Zatarain's mix, it had seasonings in it already so I left out the salt in this recipe. I mixed everything together in a bowl before putting it in the casserole and I left out the 2 soup cans of water but subbed 1/4 cup evaporated milk to cut the salt of the Zatarain's mix and give it a creamy texture. Finally, I topped with a few french-fried onions and baked covered for 30 minutes. I will definitely make this again, it had lots of texture and flavors and it was a good hearty meal, thanks for the recipe!!!

 

[mahannasch]

I just had this very same casserole for dinner last night. I almost called it "hotdish" being from MN and all! Sometimes when I make this I use fresh chopped celery and then switch out the soup with cream of chicken. I also like to add chopped water chestnuts and some toasted slivered almonds. Wonderful dish! Hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!