Italian Sausage Dinner Hash

By Paul Briand

If I have potatoes just laying around for no specific dinner menu, I'll make them into a breakfast/brunch hash or hashed browns.

And I had some potatoes laying around this week and thought: Why not bulk up a hash to dinner proportions?

Because this recipe creates a lot of hash, I cook it in the oven, using a spatula to turn the mixture over in the baking dish in order to get everything nice and brown. Also, I had some leftover ears of fresh corn that I stripped and added to the mixture. You can easily substitute a package of frozen corn.

Ingredients
6 medium sized red potatoes
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
Package of frozen corn
1 Vidalia onion, diced
1 Italian pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Parsley
Sweet basil
Black pepper

Directions
1. Wash but don't peel the potatoes;
2. Cut them into large pieces and boil them until they are just about fork tender. Drain and set aside;
3. As the potatoes are boiling, in a medium hot pan cook the sausage, breaking it up into small pieces until the pink is gone and set aside;
4. Using the sausage grease (add olive oil if there isn't enough) saute the onion, pepper and garlic until they are getting limp. Remove and set aside;
5. Pour the drained potatoes into a large mixing bowl, and use a wooden spoon or potato masher to break up the chunks into smaller pieces;
6. Add the onion, pepper and garlic to the mixing bowl;
7. Break up and add the package of frozen corn;
8. Add parsley, sweet basil and pepper to taste and mix up the ingredients;
9. Place mixture into a large baking dish, spread evenly and cook uncovered in oven pre-heated at 425 degrees;
10. After 10 minutes pull out the pan and use a spatula to turn the hash;
11. Remove after another 10 minutes or after the hash is browned through and through.

And, by the way, I used the leftovers for breakfast with two eggs over easy.