Fall Back into Comfort Foods

Fall Back into Comfort Foods

By Cristen Clark

Creativity Wins the Day for Tailgates and Farm Meals

Autumn is the perfect time to fall back into the comfort food routine. I adore slow-cooked suppers on a crisp evening, but to be completely honest, those idyllic nights are few and far between. Harvest hits quickly after my kids head back to school and doesn’t let up until my dad’s birthday in November.

Fall months call for satisfying recipes that can be easily reheated and served on-the-go. Harvest meals aren’t just deli sandwiches, hamburgers or hot dogs. Across Iowa, farm families serve up creative wraps, portable stews and bite-sized pop-able creations during the much-anticipated corn and soybean harvest. After weeks spent eating lunch and supper on the run in a tractor, I love it when there’s a new and exciting recipe waiting in my lunchbox or cooler.

If a recipe can pull double duty on a tailgating spread, you can bet I’m doubling the batch. Weekend football games keep us entertained in the fall. When harvest is over, or if we get rained out from a day of work, and there is a college football game to watch on television, we love to put out a big spread. The centerpiece of these get-togethers is the food. I enjoy a good football game, but I also love trying different foods at a tailgate or watch party.

Some of my favorite tailgate buffet dishes are warmed or chilled dips, meatballs with different flavor combinations, anything pop-able and fruity sherbet punches that are meant for the kids but always get my vote.

When it comes to flavor-packed popability, Italian Sausage Pizza Bites fit the bill. Plus, they are customizable and can accommodate an array of flavors.

To change this recipe a bit, replace the Italian sausage with a combination of pizza-style meats like pepperoni or Canadian bacon. To make a breakfast-style bite, swap Italian sausage with regular breakfast sausage or diced ham, omit the Italian seasoning and mix in pepper jack or cheddar cheese instead of mozzarella to wake up your taste buds in the morning.

This recipe freezes well, and there are a couple of different ways to do it. To freeze the unbaked bites, prepare the recipe up until the bake. Scoop balls of dough onto an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet, the dull side of foil facing up. Freeze dough balls until completely frozen. Remove from freezer and place frozen dough balls into a zip-close freezer bag. To keep freezer burn to a minimum, press as much air out of the bag as possible before freezing. The baked bites can also be frozen the same way. Frozen baked bites can be reheated in the microwave for 2 minutes. For frozen unbaked dough balls, add 20 minutes to the total baking time.

Italian Sausage Pizza Bites

• 1 pound Italian sausage (pork, beef or turkey)

• 1/2 cup sweet yellow onion, chopped finely

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened

• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 2 teaspoons pizza seasoning or Italian seasoning

• 3 large eggs, beaten

• 2 cups shredded mozzarella or shredded provolone cheese

• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

• 1/2 cup pepperoni pieces, chopped • Marinara sauce or basil pesto for dipping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, add sausage and cook for 5 minutes or until halfway browned. Add onion and continue cooking until browned, drain if needed. Return to heat, add garlic and bell pepper. Cook 1 additional minute. To a large mixing bowl, add sausage mixture, cream cheese, flour, baking powder, pizza seasoning and eggs. Stir until combined. Fold in mozzarella, Parmesan and pepperoni. Chill dough for 30 minutes to an hour.

Scoop dough balls with a regular-sized cookie scoop onto a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm with marinara sauce or basil pesto.

Makes 3 dozen bites.