Brats was one of Lillian's favorites -- but the novelty has worn off. As it turns out, leftover cooked brats is a handy thing to have in the frig. They already have all that delicious spicy seasoning...
One day, I sliced them up and put them in scrambled eggs...DELISH. So simple and fast...
For supper one night, I cooked spaghetti, then crumbled two leftover brats, and tossed with fresh tomatoes and basil, a little olive oil and Parmesan cheese -- HEAVEN.
But here is my favorite leftover-brat-dish -- inspired by the Tuscan Sausage Soup at the Olive Garden. WHICH I LOVE. John has been digging all these delicious potatoes from his garden...
Think creamy potato soup with hot spicy sausage (the Olive Garden version has Kale in it..).
I looked up some recipes online...but nothing was quite right.
First, I fried off 5 strips of bacon. (to be completely honest -- it was six strips of bacon) I broke up the crispy bacon on a paper towel -- and used the drippings to saute a finely chopped Vidalia onion. While that was happening, I cubed three large potatoes and got them started with a little water in my Pampered Chef microwave vegetable cooker (they were tender in about 4 minutes)...
I drained the bacon fat -- crumbled three leftover brats into the nearly-cooked onions -- and added the hot nearly-cooked potatoes. (seriously -- it's almost done...)
I poured in a quart of chicken stock and two cups of milk. I added 2 TBL of flour to some of the stock to help thicken the soup.
At that point -- the soup is almost ready. Since I didn't have any kale (shocking, I know) -- I chopped a cup of dark green leaf lettuce -- which was GREAT. (I think frozen spinach would have worked.)
After I put the soup in the bowls -- I sprinkled the CRISPY BACON on top.
HOLY COW....the soup was delicious!! I know this is something I'll get hungry for. Again. Soon. And from now on -- when I cook brats -- I'm going to deliberately make extra!!
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