Wild Rice and Sausage Casserole

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: 1 hr 30 mins
• Serves: 4-6
• Yields: 1 Casserole

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 3/4ounce) 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.