Recipe #212: Spaetzle, Sauerkraut and Sausage Casserole

I was going to do my usual meal with kielbasa and sauerkraut by just cutting up and frying the kielbasa in a pan and then adding the sauerkraut to the pan to warm it up, but I found a recipe in the meanwhile that I modified to make this.  I'm glad I tried it because the meal was good when I ate it, but it was the LEFTOVERS that were phenomenal!

INGREDIENTS:

4 slices bacon, chopped
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 small Gala (or similar) apple, cored and chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 16oz package sauerkraut
1 16oz package kielbasa, cut into coins

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the bacon in a skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until the bacon is crisp.  Remove the bacon, leaving the drippings in the pan, and set aside.  Cook the onion in the same pan until browned.  Remove the onions.  Add butter, apple, and brown sugar to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes.  In a bowl, mix the spaetzle, onions, butter, apple mixture and sauerkraut together.  Put this mixture into a greased 9x9 casserole dish.

Brown the kielbasa in the pan.  Layer on top of the casserole dish.  Bake for 15 minutes in the oven.