But back to breakfast. This dish is made with Georgian Sausage, or as best as I can get it with the limited access to Silk Road spices, and Georgian farm fresh ingredients. Topped with a little Sulguni Cheese, it’s quite tasty. And for those of you doubter out there, the one in the picture above is not burnt. The Megrelian ajika and the Walnut Sauce turned it this color. This is also best eaten as a frittata.
Serves: 16 -22 (2 frittatas)
Ingredients
Georgian Sausage
- 1 – 1/2 lbs Ground Pork
- 1 large Onion, finely chopped
- 1 – 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 tsp freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 2 cloves of Garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh Dill, or 1 tbsp of dried Dill
- 1 Tbsp ground Coriander
- 1 tsp dried Red Chile Flakes
- 4 oz Pomegranate Juice
- 1 tsp Cooking Oil
Megrelian Ajika
- 2 – 4 Hot Red Chile Peppers
- 1 – 2 Sweet Red Peppers
- 1/2 cup chopped Parsley
- 1/4 cup chopped Celery Leaves
- 1/4 cup of chopped Basil
- 1/2 cup of Garlic (about 6 cloves)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Fenugreek
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Coriander
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Marigold
- 1 Tbsp Dill
- 1 tsp Salt
Walnut Sauce
- 1/2 cup finely ground Walnuts
- 1 tsp Coriander
- 1 tsp Fenugreek
- 1 tsp of Marigold
- 1/2 tsp of Cinnamon
- 2 crushed Garlic cloves
- 2 tsp White Wine Vinegar
The Rest
- 1 cup shredded Smoked Sulguni or Smoked Mozzarella Cheese (or plain Mozzarella if you can’t find it smoked)
- 1/2 White Onion, chopped
- 1 tsp Cooking Oil
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (optional)
Preparation
Georgian Sausage
In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add the Pomegranate Juice in last but make sure everything is thoroughly mixed. The traditional method would have this mixture in casings but since this all gets chopped up anyway why bother. Make into 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick patties (should make about 8 – 10) and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to firm them up. Prepare a skillet on medium high with with a dash of cooking oil (I use olive oil) and when ready, place in and cook all of the patties that you’ve prepared for about 5 – 6 minutes per side. They should be just a little charred on the outside. Remove from the skillet and allow to drain onto some paper towels until cool. When cooled chop them up into 1/2 inch pieces and refrigerate until ready for final assembly.
Megrelian Ajika
This will make a little over 1 1/2 cups of this seasoning. Remove the tops of all the peppers and remove all the seeds and stems and discard them. Quarter cut the peppers so they’ll fit into a food processor. Fine chop the parsley, celery leaves, basil and garlic. Put each of previous ingredients into a food processor and pulse until you have a finely chopped mush and everything is fully mixed. Add into the processor the fenugreek, coriander, marigold, dill and salt. Continue to mix by pulsing the processor until everything is fully mixed. Remove from the processor and store in a container until ready to use in the final preparation.
Walnut Sauce
This will make a little over 1/2 a cup of this key ingredient. Using a food processor finely chop walnuts until you have at least 1/2 cup of finely chopped or ground walnuts. Then add in the other ingredients, except for the White Wine Vinegar and thoroughly mix in the processor. This powder should be easily removed for the processor and placed in a bowl. Add the White Wine Vinegar in and mix well. Then you should simply add a little bit of water and mix until the mixture is a thick paste. When you get the right consistency, put it away until final preparation.
The Rest
Shred your cheese and chop your 1/2 onion. In a pan, put a little cooking oil and when hot, add the chopped onions and cook over medium high heat until they turn translucent. Remove from heat and put both away in separate containers until ready for final preparation.
Final Assembly and Cooking
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line your pie pans with a little oil or butter to help the frittata release. Take the chopped sausage and chopped onions you’ve prepared and roughly mix them together and place equal parts into your two pie pans. Prepare the base quiche mix, but reduce the amount of half and half to 1/4 cup. Add into this mixture the Ajika and Walnut Sauce and mix well. Pour this over the sausages and onions in the pie pans. Top this with the shredded cheese and cook in the oven for 30 – 40 minutes, or when the cheese is starting to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and either serve or pack them up for transport to the rink. Also, if you want to add a pleasant surprise, drop on some pomegranates on top of each pie after about 20 minutes of cooking.