Pittsburgh Kielbasa Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
• Place kielbasa in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven; pierce with fork and drain grease.
• Cut kielbasa into bite-size pieces; return to baking dish. Spread onion over kielbasa; set aside.
• Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix applesauce with brown sugar. Pour evenly over kielbasa and onion. Bake for 1 1/2 hours.
• Serve with decorative toothpicks for a festive look.

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until very tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in as much cabbage as will fit in the pan, and cook until the cabbage is very tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the remaining cabbage as the mixture cooks down.
• Meanwhile, fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the egg noodles, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 5 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink.
• Stir the kielbasa into the cabbage mixture and cook a few minutes to warm. Fold in the egg noodles, then gently fold in the pierogis. Cover, and cook until the pierogis are hot in the center, about 10 minutes more. Season to taste with salt and pepper before serving.

Steps:

• In a small skillet, toast the caraway seeds over medium heat, stirring until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Finely grind the seeds in a spice grinder. Set aside. Cut the Ukrainian sausage, kielbasa, and Krakowska into 4-inch pieces; remove and discard the casing of the Krakowska. In a Dutch oven or large pot, melt the butter. Add the sausage and cook over medium heat until browned all over, 10-15 minutes. While the sausages are browning, thinly slice the celery. Trim escarole, then thinly slice into ribbons. Cut off fennel fronds and reserve for garnish; remove outer layer of the fennel, then thinly slice the inner bulb. Peel and trim onion, then roughly chop into small chunks. Trim carrots, cut in half lengthwise, then slice into ⅛-inch half-moon shapes.
• Remove browned sausages from pot and transfer to a plate to cool slightly, reserving the drippings. (Note: Refrigerate sausages if not using within 1 hour.) Meanwhile, over medium heat, sauté onions and fennel with a pinch of salt in the sausage drippings. Add ground caraway seeds and another pinch of salt while the onion/fennel mixture browns, 3-4 minutes. Bundle thyme sprigs with kitchen twine to make a bouquet garni, and add it to the pot. Add carrots and celery; stir, then sweat, 60-90 seconds. Add ham hock, escarole, yellow and green split peas. Stir to combine, then add chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until peas are tender, about 60-80 minutes.
• Remove ham hock and set aside. Thinly slice the sausages; add them to the soup and simmer until the sausages are heated through, 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, pull the meat off the ham hock, slice, add to the soup and simmer, 4-5 more minutes.
• Remove bouquet garni and discard. Season the stew with salt, vinegar, and hot sauce. Garnish with reserved fennel fronds and freshly ground white peppercorns, and serve with baguette slices.