Alheira; More Than an Appetizer

Who doesn’t like appetizers? The appetizer portion of a dinner is probably the best part of the meal. One of the best appetizers I ever had was in a Portuguese restaurant in Newark. My husband and I along with my sister in-law and brother in-law had spent a good part of our day in New York. We were ready for a late lunch and wanted some good Portuguese food. New York has many amazing restaurants but if you want amazing Portuguese food you need to head to Newark, New Jersey. We arrived at the restaurant around 3 o’clock. The restaurant was very vacant and according to my husband that is never a good sign, usually indicates that the food might not be up to our standards. My brother in-law reminded him that we were eating “fora de horas”, translating to mean eating at an odd hour. We took our seats and the waitress enthusiastically handed us the menu. I suggested we order the Alheria, a Portuguese sausage. Alheira is a smoked Portuguese sausage, (pronounced “Al – iyai -rah”), it’s a smoky garlicky sausage made from pork but also can be made using chicken. The sausage was nestled on top of a bed of broccoli rabe and a fried egg placed on top of the sausage. A very simplistic dish that packed tons of flavor. Though this was served as an appetizer it can easily become a main entree, add some crusty bread to the dish and you have a very satisfying meal in a short time. Now start cooking.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pounds broccoli rabe washed and trimmed

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

5 cloves of garlic minced

¼ cup of water

Salt and Pepper to taste

Alheria sausage- I use the Corte’s brand, can be ordered online

¼ cup plus 4 tablespoons of olive oil

1 one egg

Directions:

• In a pan over medium heat add 2 tablespoons olive oil, ¼ teaspoon of crushed red pepper along with the 5 cloves of garlic; sautee for a few minutes careful to not let the garlic burn.

• Add the broccoli rabe to the garlic and pepper mixture, mix to combine the ingredients.

• Add a ¼ cup of water to the pan cover and cook for about 5 minutes or until the broccoli rabe has wilted completely down.

• Add salt and black pepper to taste.

Alheria

• Pre-heat the oven or the grill to 375

• Place the sausage in foil, drizzle the ¼ cup of olive oil and a pinch of salt over the sausage. Wrap the sausage in foil and place it on a cookie sheet or if using a grill place the foil directly onto the grill.

• Cook the sausage for about 30 minutes or until the sausage bursts from its skin.

Egg

• Once the sausage is done; fried the egg in 2 tablespoon of olive oil.

Assemble

Lay the broccoli rabe in a bowl place the sausage on top of the broccoli rabe and then top the sausage with the fried egg. Don’t forget the crusty bread.