*hash it out.

I'm jumping forward a little bit and posting this ahead of some others I have in the wings because I just couldn't resist—look at that sunny yellow nugget! How can you resist?

The secondary reason I'm posting it today is because it's Friday and this is the perfect whip-it-up weekend dinner. My sister laughed at my grocery list when she found it in the trash and it just said:

Brussels sprouts
Potatoes
Eggs
Bacon prosciutto pancetta sausage

(I got a little indecisive on that last bit.)

The other thing that I bought, promptly put in the refrigerator, and then totally forgot, was goat cheese. It's still haunting me. I feel almost completely sure that I am going to have to make this again so that I can try the cheesy variation. (For the record, I was going to dot it across the warm hash before draping the egg over top. Doesn't that sound delicious? Don't you wish my brain functioned more than 43% of the time?)

Dammit.

It is no secret that I love heat, but the dried crushed red pepper in the Brussels sprouts is totally optional. I liked its counterpoint to the sweetness of the chicken-apple sausage, but you could achieve the same balance with ... well, goat cheese, frankly.

Dammit.

I did finally (I think) manage to crack the home cook's secret to perfectly roasted potatoes that both cook through AND brown properly: cooking spray. In the past mine have turned out variously over greasy, undercooked, over browned, and underwhelming. Also they stuck to the pan no matter how much oil I used. (see the aforementioned "over greasy" problem.) A little spray on the surface of the pan and a spritz more over the potatoes themselves gave everything a perfectly even coating AND helped the seasonings disperse evenly, as opposed to globbing up in the oiliest spots.

This whole dish came together in about 30 minutes, and the hands-on time was minimal—halve the sprouts and small-chop the potatoes and you're pretty much done. You can certainly mix this up infinite ways—that's the beauty of hash: Try sweet potatoes and pancetta, or add some bell pepper and bacon, or even sprinkle the whole thing with velvety dots of goat cheese.

Dammit.


Roasted Brussels Sprout–Potato Hash with Chicken Sausage

Cooking spray
2 baking potatoes, small chopped
Kosher salt
Black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (12-ounce) package chicken-apple sausage, sliced (I used Aidells.)
Dried crushed red pepper (optional)
6 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray an aluminum foil–lined baking sheet with cooking spray; place chopped potatoes on baking sheet, and spray potatoes lightly with more cooking spray. Sprinkle with kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder, and toss. Roast 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, place Brussels sprouts on a second aluminum foil–lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with kosher salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper, if desired; toss. 

3. Remove potatoes from oven; stir with a spatula on baking sheet, and layer sausage slices on top of potatoes. Return potatoes to oven on top rack with Brussels sprouts below; roast 20 minutes or until sprouts and sausage are deeply browned.

4. Combine sprouts, potatoes, and sausage, and divide evenly among serving bowls. Cook eggs to desired degree of doneness; top each serving with 1 egg. Makes 6 servings.