Italian Sausage Frattaglie Stew ☆

Thanksgiving Day 2018 was spent in the home of our physical trainer and long-time friend Sean Salazar and his family. It was my task to provide the usual Cranberry-Serrano Relish,† and I offered also to bring Cranberry-Vanilla Pudding,† and Madeira-Giblet Gravy.† The gravy required my to buy turkey giblets, which also came with gizzards and hearts, of which I only used a portion. What to do with the remainder, I asked myself.

The answer came a few days later, when I decided to combine them with Italian sausages in a stew. In order not to emphasize the giblet, gizzard, and heart content, I looked up the Italian word for these elements, and found it to be ‘frattaglie’* (pronounced frat-tall-yay). Hence, the title of the recipe. It turned out to be a very savory, hearty, and filling dish. If you ever have leftover frattaglie, I recommend it highly!

  • ½ lb turkey or chicken giblets, gizzards, and hearts
  • 2½ cups unsalted chicken stock
  • ½ lb mild Italian turkey sausage links, sliced crosswise
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
  • 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 stalk celery, diced
  • ¼ cup green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 large carrot, cut into ½” dice
  • 4 large white button mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 cup swiss chard, stems removed and roughly chopped
  • 2¼ cups canned Italian plum tomatoes (in juice)
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 tsp leaf oregano
  • ½ tsp ground rosemary
  • ½ tsp parsley flakes
  • ½ tsp marjoram
  • ½ tsp ground black pepper, to taste

Boil the frattaglie in the chicken stock for about 1 hour or until giblets are tender. When done, drain, cut into bite-size pieces, and reserve the boiling liquid.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Spray it with vegetable spray, add the sausage, and cook until the sausage is browned, about 5–10 minutes.

Add the oil, onions, garlic, celery, bell pepper, carrot, and mushrooms to the pan and brown slowly.

Add the frattaglie, reserved stock, chard, tomatoes and juice, and wine. Cover and slowly cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the rosemary, parsley, marjoram, and pepper to taste. Continue to simmer until the liquid is reduced to the desired consistency. More stock may be added if more liquid is needed. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

Serve with crusty Italian bread.

Serves 4.