Polish Sausage And Sauerkraut Casserole (kapusta)

Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 15 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 4 lbs polish sausage, fresh if possible
• 1/2 lb bacon
• 1 small yellow onion
• 2 (27 ounce) jars sauerkraut
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup water

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit.
• 2 bring sausage to boil and simmer 15 minutes; drain and set aside.
• 3 cut bacon into small pieces.
• 4 begin browning, then add diced onion.
• 5 saute together until bacon is almost crisp.
• 6 drain mixture, reserving bacon grease.
• 7 drain sauerkraut (do not rinse).
• 8 add sauerkraut and brown sugar to bacon mixture.
• 9 mix in about 2 tablespoons reserved bacon grease and water.
• 10 place in large casserole dish.
• 11 cut polish sausage into 3" pieces and place on top of sauerkraut.
• 12 cover and bake at 325 degrees fahrenheit for 1 hour 15 minutes, checking sauerkraut mixture halfway through to add more water if sauerkraut appears very dry.
• 13 finish baking; remove from oven.
• 14 taste sauerkraut and, if desired, adjust flavor by adding salt and pepper, or a little more brown sugar, vinegar or bacon grease to your taste. (note: in the old days, busia (grandma) would soak a cup of yellow peas overnight to soften them and would mix them into the sauerkraut. it was probably to stretch the quantity, but i don't do it anymore!).