Sausages in Tomato Sauce and Potato and Spinach Mash

I don't think you can really generalize what comfort food is.

I know that usually people will associate it with macaroni and cheese or a meatloaf or a hearty casserole, but I think comfort food is whatever YOU want it to be.



Speaking for myself, I can tell you that there are quite a few dishes that I consider comfort food, because they're filling but mainly because they seem to take me back to a time and place in my childhood.  It's the foods that I relate to big dinners around the table with the whole family, all 14 or 15 of us....or the comforting plate of Sausages in a tomato and onion sauce that my stepmom would lovingly place in front of me and I would devour after a long day of high school drama.  Yeah go ahead and laugh but you KNOW those days right???  Ha!

Anyway, that is the kind of food which I consider to be high on my comfort list and that is exactly what I'm sharing with you today.  I posted the recipe for it back in 2006, complete with boring text and NO pictures of the finished product, matter of fact it's still on my old blog, so I thought it's high time I brought it up again and actually showed you some pics...so here it is:

Salsichas com molho de tomate (Sausages in Tomato Sauce)

1 lb sausage (whatever your favorite is)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp crushed garlic
paprika
1 bay leaf
white wine
salt and pepper to taste

These are the sausages I chose for today, they are really good

I start off by putting the olive oil in the pan, add the onions and the tomatos, garlic, salt and pepper, sprinkle with paprika, bay leaf, sliced sausage and tomato sauce.
Give it a good stir and then place the lid on it and let it simmer for about 20 minutes, remember to stir now and then. If you want more gravy just add a little bit of water. You'll be surprised at how yummy it is and how easy. Remove from the heat, take out the bay leaf (you don't want to eat that lol).

Serve with white rice, or mashed potatoes or whatever you wish. I'm serving mine with rice tonight.
I wish I could give you exact measurements but it's hard to when I don't have a recipe for it and am used to just going by taste. Just love this recipe because it's easy to make, it's inexpensive and the kids gobble it up.



Potato and Spinach Mash

I love making these mashed potatoes, it's something that the whole family will eat, you can't really taste the spinach AND is a good way to get the kiddos to eat the veggies too. Luckily for me though, my children love spinach and all sorts of vegetables.

I also like to substitute the spinach with carrots and make a potato and carrot mash which is equally delicious and the kids think it's super cool because it's orange.

All you need to do is make your mashed potatoes as usual.

While the potatoes are cooking, in a separate small saucepan, cook some frozen spinach with a little bit of salt. Again just follow the directions on the package. When cooked, drain and squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can.



Add the spinach to the mashed potatoes and then season as you would normally.



I just add butter, milk, salt and pepper to mine, that's it :)