Spicy Parmesan Sausage Meatballs with a Whiskey Barbecue Sauce

I don't eat red meat so meatballs are generally off the table (quite literally) in our house. But Eric loves them and I wanted to come up with some variation that we both could eat. Then it donned on me: sausage! We both like sausage, especially spicy sausage. These things smelled so good cooking that Eric couldn't resist coming into the kitchen more than once to see if they were done yet.

Sausage meatball recipe adapted from here.
Whiskey sauce recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
Meatballs
16-ounce roll of spicy pork sausage
1/3 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Sauce

2/3 cup ketchup*
2/3 cup brown sugar*
1/3 cup honey whiskey (I used Jack Daniel's Honey Whiskey)

*Or you can substitute out the ketchup and brown sugar for 1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce

Directions:
Meatballs
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl with your hands. Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls and place in the baking dish in a single layer.

Bake for 12-14 mintutes or until thoroughly cooked.

Sauce
Mix together ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes.*

Pour sauce over meatballs and serve.

*The cook time on this sauce should vary by taste. After 20 minutes of simmer, Eric thought the sauce still tasted too strongly of alcohol (I disagree, I loved it). Depending on your preferences, you could cook the sauce for longer to burn off more of the booze or pour in less whiskey to begin with. Just taste the sauce as you go until you find your perfect balance.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Sausage Recipes:
Black Bean and Sausage Stovetop Casserole
Cheesy Sausage and Potato Casserole
Pasta with Vodka Sauce and Sausage
Pumpkin Penne Casserole
Roasted Sausage, Potatoes, and Peppers 
Sausage and Bean Casserole
Savory Apples Stuffed with Sage and Sausage
The Tale of Two Quiches: Spicy Sausage and Spinach Quiche

Pumpkin-Black Bean Stew with Spicy Sausage

Source

October is my favorite month. It has Halloween in it. To start this month out right, I'm going to share this hearty, spicy pumpkin stew. The original recipes comes from here. I made a number of changes though. Next time, I may make even more changes, like adding more vegetables--potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and so on. But as is, this soup is quite filling. One little bowl and I'm stuffed. Eric wasn't a big fan, but considering he prefers pumpkin in his desserts, not his entree, and doesn't like black beans, I wasn't expecting him to get excited about this dish. However, everyone else loved it!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
3 cups chicken broth
1 package Echrich Jalapeno and Cheddar sausages
2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
1 15-ounce can corn, drained
29-ounce can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sage
1/2 tablespoon thyme
cayenne pepper, to taste
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
sugar, to taste

Directions:
In a stock pot, heat olive oil over medium-high and saute the onions until they're translucent, about 5 minutes. Add sausage and brown. Pour in chicken broth, black beans, tomatoes, corn, and pumpkin. Stir and bring to a boil. Add milk, curry, cumin, sage, and thyme. Stir. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for approximately 10 minutes. Season to taste with cayenne, salt, black pepper, and sugar.

P.S. It's even better the next day!

Enjoy!

~Krissy

Also Check These Fall Recipes:  
Acorn Donuts
Applesauce Cookies with Caramel Frosting
Cheese Tortellini in a Pumpkin Sauce
Cinnamon-Sugar Pastry with Pumpkin Dip
Mini Pumpkin Pies
Pumpkin Bread!
Pumpkin Caramels
Pumpkin Penn Casserole
Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Brownies