Baked Biała Kiełbasa
The Polish white sausage - biała kiełbasa - reigns supreme amongst the meats served at Polish Easter. A key element of the Easter Żurek soup and also enjoyed baked, grilled or cooked with a side of horseradish, mustard or mashed beets, for many Poles, Easter simply cannot do without the biała sausage! This Easter season we’ve asked one of America’s favorite Polish food bloggers, Lois Britton of the Polish Housewife blog, to share her favorite recipe for this favorite Polish Easter food. Below you’ll find a simple step-by step recipe for a baked biała kiełbasa complete with recommended ingredients from Polana. It makes for a perfect addition to a Polish Easter feast! Hope you give it a try!
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Biała Kiełbasa is traditional for Easter. Sometimes it is the sausage served with Biała Barszcz. Sometimes it's Baked Biała Kiełbasa as I've prepared it here. I love baking as an option because you can put this simple and delicious dish together in advance. No last minute prep is a big selling point in my kitchen. It can go straight from the oven to the table.
The sausage is baked with onions and apples, dressed with mustard, honey, and marjoram. It's common in Polish cooking to add fruit to savory dishes. Prunes and apples are the most popular additions. I hope you'll try this as is, but if cooking apples and onions sounds too crazy to you, just think of the apples as optional.
If you live in an area with a substantial Polish population, you're probably familiar with biała kiełbasa. It's purchased as a raw, fresh (unsmoked) sausage. What makes biała kiełbasa different than other fresh sausages you might be more familiar with is the spices. It's seasoned generously with garlic, marjoram, and black pepper.
If you live in an area where Biała Kiełbasa isn't readily available, you can make your own as I have done in the past. Like any link sausage, it's a lot of work, but if you don't have time or the specialized equipment, know that you can order the real thing online from Polana, my partners and sponsors of this recipe. You'll also find they have all kinds of Easter favorites.
What to serve with Baked Biała Kiełbasa?
This recipe would be delicious with mashed potatoes, mustard, pickled cucumbers. If it's on your Easter buffet, I'd want to have it with Polish Potato (or vegetable) Salad. If you're lucky enough to have leftovers, try baked biała kiełbasa on a crusty roll with the roasted onions and mustard. Yum!
Smacznego!
Lois
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INGREDIENTS
- 2 1/4 pounds biała kielbasa (1 kg)
- olive oil
- 2 onions, sliced
- 2 apples, peeled and sliced (optional)
- 1/4 cup mustard (your favorite)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon ground marjoram
- salt and pepper (to taste)
RECIPE DIRECTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C)
- Poke a few holes in the sausages and brush with oil. Set aside.
- Add the onions and apples to a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
- In a small container combine the mustard, honey, marjoram, salt, and pepper. Pour over the onions and apples, toss.
- Top the mixture with the sausages.
- Cover the dish with a lid or foil. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove the cover and bake another 30 - 40 minutes.
