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Sausage and Slaw Skillet with Mornay Sauce

Ray
A quick dinner with an easy Mornay sauce. Technically, the sauce is Mornay-like since it's made with a beurre manié instead of a roux.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

For the Sauce

  • ¼ yellow onion diced or one medium shallot, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • Optional Splash of white wine to deglaze the pan
  • 1 TBSP Butter (at room temperature for the beurre manié)
  • 2 TBSP Flour for the beurre manié
  • 1 TBSP butter or olive oil for the pan
  • 1 ½ C milk at room temperature {but straight from the refrigerator works, too, if you’re rushed)
  • pinch of nutmeg ()optional)
  • ¼ TSP salt
  • Pepper to taste
  • 4 oz shredded cheese (FYI, 4 oz is 1/2 C) (for example, 1/4 C gruyère and 1/4 C Parmesan)

For the Skillet

  • 1 lb Italian sausage –skins removed
  • 2 TBSP Olive oil
  • ¼ yellow onion diced or one medium shallot, diced
  • 2-4 garlic cloves minced
  • ½ TSP paprika
  • ½ TSP dried oregano
  • ¼ head of cabbage thinly sliced
  • 1 small zucchini spiralized or thinly sliced with a potato peeler
  • 4 radishes shredded
  • 2 carrots shredded
  • 1 C chopped kale or thinly sliced Brussels sprouts or baby spinach
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

Method for the Sauce

  • Make the beurre manié by kneading 1TBSP butter and 2 TBSP flour together in a small bowl, using your fingers or a fork. If the butter isn’t room temperature, you can cut it into a small dice and it will be soft enough to knead in just a few minutes.
  • Heat 1 TBSP butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onions when the butter has melted but before it foams. Stir until soft but not brown, 2-3 minutes. If using oil instead of butter, place a bit of diced onion in the pan while the oil heats. When it sizzles, it’s ready to add the rest of the onions and proceed as above.
  • Stir in garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds
  • Optionally, at this point you could deglaze the pan with a splash of wine, making sure to evaporate most or all of the liquid before proceeding.
  • Add the 1 ½ C milk and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat.
  • Once it’s simmering, whisk in the beurre manié, taking care it dissolves completely.
  • Simmer for about ten minutes, continuing to whisk or stir frequently with a rubber spatula to assure that the sauce doesn’t clump or cling to the sides of the pan.
  • Remove from heat and stir in the nutmeg (if using), salt, pepper, and cheese. Do not apply heat at this point, as that would tend to separate the cheese. Don't overdo the nutmeg--you don't want your sauce to taste like eggnog!

Method for the Skillet

  • You can do this while your stirring the simmering sauce.
  • Bring a deep-dish skillet to medium heat. Once it’s hot, add the sausage, breaking it up into bite-size bits. Brown until cooked through, 3-4 minutes. Remove sausage from pan.
  • Add olive oil to pan with medium heat. Once it’s hot, add onions with a dash of salt and cook 3-5 minutes, until soft and golden.
  • Add the garlic and spices, and cook 30 seconds until fragrant.
  • Add the vegetables. Stir and cook until softened and greens are wilted, about five minutes. You might need to do this in batches, depending on the size of your pan and the volume of vegetables.
  • Add sausages back into the pan and stir until sausages are re-heated, a minute or two. Remove from heat and add 1 C of the sauce into the sausage and vegetable mixture. Stir until sauce coats the sausage and vegetable mixture. Add more sauce as needed to the desired consistency and taste. Do not apply heat to the sauce, since it will separate the cheese.

Notes

The prep time is for chopping the vegetables and making the beurre manié, both of which you can do ahead of time.  It worked for me to start the sauce while the sausage browns and then finish the skillet after adding the beurre manié to simmering sauce mixture.  Just be sure to continue stirring the sauce frequently while working on the skillet.