Sausage Stew

This is the kind of sausage stew that fills a kitchen with garlic-and-oregano steam for an hour and then hands you a bowl so rich it eats like a meal. Two types of sausage do the building: veal for mild sweetness, hot Italian for the pepper bite and fennel.

Browning the links whole before slicing keeps them juicy. If you cut them first and then brown, they leak fat and toughen up at the edges.

The wine deglaze is worth the step. That one minute of hard boil lifts the fond off the pan bottom and layers a savory depth under the tomatoes and broth.

Three cheeses stirred in at the end pull the stew together. Mozzarella for stretch, cheddar for tang, parmesan for salty depth.

Serve it with crusty bread for dragging through the broth.

Pro Tips

• Drain off most of the sausage fat before sweating the onions or the stew turns greasy.
• Cut potatoes into even ¾-inch cubes so they cook through at the same rate.
• Stir the cheese in off the heat to keep it from turning grainy.
• Leftovers thicken overnight; loosen with a splash of broth when reheating.

Variations

• Use smoked chicken or turkey sausage for a lighter version without losing character.
• Swap green beans for kale or chard, added in the last 5 minutes.
• Add a pinch of red pepper flakes with the garlic for extra heat.