One of my favorite brunches is the southwestern pile-up – cubes of pan roasted potatoes, onion, bacon or chorizo (or both), cheese, and red or green chile all piled on top of each other and topped off with a runny egg or two. For this recipe, I switch some of the ingredients of the southwestern pileup to create more of a dinner as opposed to breakfast/branch. This Suppertime Pile-up is made with andouille, sweet potato and fennel, and served with the mighty fried egg on top.
If you haven’t tried the combination before, sweet potato and fennel go very well together. My husband, who isn’t much of a fennel fan, loves the fennel in this dish. Of course he also loves anything with andouille which complements the other ingredients perfectly. If you can’t get andouille where you are, you can always substitute with another spicy sausage like chorizo (Mexican or Spanish), a spicy Italian sausage, or a green chile sausage.
A healthy and hearty dinner with lots of healthy ingredients and an abundance of flavors.
*See Kitchen Notes for substitutions and further information.
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. butter
- 1 medium fennel bulb, sliced thin
- 1 medium onion, sliced thin
- 1/8 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper or taste
- 1 Andouille sausage, 1/4″ cubes (Optional – see Kitchen Notes)
- 1 medium sweet potato, cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper or to taste
- 2 eggs eggs cooked over easy (1 per serving)
- butter for frying eggs
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat.
Add fennel and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the onion. Toss with the fennel and sauté 5 minutes.
- Add Andouille sausage. Mix with vegetables. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add salt and pepper.
- Cover and cook about 12 to 14 minutes until vegetable are soft, stirring occasionally.
- In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat.
- Add the sweet potato, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Toss and spread potato cubes into a single layer. Cover and cook 3 minutes.
- Flip the cubes over with a spatula. Cover and cook another 3 minutes.
- Remove cover and continue cooking, stirring infrequently until potato is cooked and pieces start to brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. (Taste for doneness and seasoning.)
- Divide sweet potato between two bowls.
Melt a little butter for the eggs. Fry the eggs, sunny-side up or over easy – your preference. (Be careful not to overcook the yokes. You want them runny.)
- Top the potato with the vegetable-sausage mixture.
Place an egg on top of the vegetables. Salt and pepper the eggs, if desired, and serve.
Sausage – Even though this recipe calls for Andouille sausage, it can be made with just about any sausage or without sausage. I like it best with Andouille or Mexican chorizo. This Green Chile Sausage would also work.
Fennel – If you don’t have a fennel bulb or don’t like fennel, just use two onions instead of one.
Vegetarian version – Omit the sausage and add a little jalapeno or green chile to the onion/fennel mix.
Variation from 12/14/2012 – Replace the andouille with chorizo and top the egg with a little red chile sauce.
Leftover fennel fronds – Need an item for those leftover fronds? Try making these fennel infused onions. Delicious!
For more sweet potato dishes, check out these recipes:
Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Brown Butter and Bourbon
Spicy Orange Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Green Chile Sweet Potato Hash Browns
Massaged Kale and Sweet Potato Salad
Mashed Sweet Potatoes – Quick & Easy
Butter Roasted Sweet Potatoes @ Kitchn
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I love the sound of this pileup, MJ! Fennel seed is often used in Italian breakfast sausage, so combining here with egg sounds perfect. And I’d totally eat this for breakfast, lunch or dinner 😉 Such a delicious dish and thank you so much for sharing!
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Wow! Sounds yummy. I love sweet potatoes. I know this is a silly question, but does fennel taste like licorice (like the seeds do)?
If you haven’t already, I’d love for you to visit my Gluten-Free Monday party at OneCreativeMommy.com and link up this and any other GF idea you would like to share. I hope to see you there.
Thanks Heidi! Cooked fennel doesn’t take like licorice. The seeds yes, and even the raw bulb a little. The cooked fennel has a sweet taste all its own. Thanks for the invite to your party. I’ll head over there.
This looks good, I really like the egg on top! Thanks for sharing at Showcase Your Talent Thursday. I hope to see you there next week!
Yummy! I would love for you to Link up at my Linky Party via: http://www.ourdelightfulhome.blogspot.com
Mrs. Delightful
This looks really yummy!! I’ll have to try it soon! Thanks for sharing!
I love the name, a pileup! I’ve never heard of them before but I think there the same as what we call a skillet breakfast. I would totally eat this for dinner. i Love how you included fennel in your recipe. It’s one that I’m completely addicted to these days.
I’m hosting Whole Food Wednesdays at beyondthepeel. I hope you’ll swing by and maybe even join in! Have a great week.
http://www.beyondthepeel.net/2012/01/whole-food-wednesday-not-another-waldorf-salad-recipe.html
Delicious! Just delicious!
Jeff likes this pileup with a little less sweetness, so we use red potatoes instead of sweet potatoes. Still a yummy bowl of comfort!
Thanks for the feedback!
Another use for my favorite sausage! I loved this!