Spicy Cajun Sausage Crostini’s

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Hillshire Brands Company. All opinions are entirely my own. 

I love the holiday season because it gives me an excuse to host holiday gatherings and make new recipes. It’s true what they say; food really does bring people together. In my house the term should be, spicy food brings people together, because my husband and I are passing on our love for all things spicy. My favorite way to spice things us is the put a Cajun spin on things.

I’m a little more adventurous when it comes to recipes I serve to my friends and family. I like to surprise them from time to time. So I made these delicious Spicy Cajun Sausage Crostini’s to share and it turned out to be a big hit. They are bursting with Cajun/ Creole flavor and the spicy rémoulade sauce that is drizzled on top gives you a swift kick in the mouth. Because this is an appetizer type recipe, I wanted everything to be bite sized and easy to handle. So I choose to use Hillshire Farms Beef Lit’l Smokies® smoked sausages as my Cajun sausage. As a personal choice I don’t consume pork often so the beef ones were perfect for this recipe. I picked up everything I needed at Walmart, which makes my life easier during the holidays. You can find Lit’l Smokies smoked sausages in the refrigerated deli section.

First, I made the rémoulade sauce so that the flavors could blend together while I was prepping the crostini’s. I started by dicing all of my peppers, onions, and garlic. Then I cut the Lit’l Smokies smoked sausages diagonally to give them the look of a traditional Andouille sausage dish. Presentation is everything!

In a large pan, heat olive oil on medium high heat. Add onions and peppers to start the sauté process. After about 5 minutes, add in your garlic and continue sautéing.

Then, add your sliced Lit’l Smokies smoked sausages to the pan to start to brown. Sprinkle Creole (or Cajun) seasoning over the beef and vegetables. I would start with only 1 teaspoon if you are not big on spicy foods. In my house, we like things smothered in spice so I added a bit more.

Continue cooking until vegetables are translucent and the beef is browned. Transfer mix to a plate with a paper towel on it. It has a lot of oils in it and you don’t want to spoon the mixture onto the French bread before draining some of it off because you’ll get soggy crostini’s.

Slice French bread into thin slices. I happened to find a pre-sliced loaf in the Walmart bakery. It was the perfect size for this recipe. Lightly toast bread and start to assemble. Spoon a tablespoon sized amount onto the lightly toasted bread. Then drizzle a ½ tsp of rémoulade sauce onto the top of the crostini. Or you can serve these with the sauce on the side so your guest can choose how spicy they want it.

Looking for more great recipes to serve during the holidays? Check out the great recipes at #Joy2theMeal.

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5 from 1 vote

Spicy Cajun Sausage Crostini's

Ingredients

• 1 package Hillshire Farms Beef Lit’l Smokies® sliced
• ½ Red Pepper diced
• ½ yellow pepper diced
• ½ orange pepper diced
• ½ onion diced
• 4 cloves of garlic minced
• Creole seasoning to taste (see note)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 loaf French Bread thinly sliced
• Cajun Rémoulade Sauce
• 1 cup Great Value mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon Louisiana-style hot sauce
• 2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 teaspoons capers roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 scallion finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions

• Cajun Rémoulade Sauce
• In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, parsley, hot sauce, whole-grain mustard, garlic, capers, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, scallion, salt, and cayenne pepper. Let sit for 1 hour for flavors to combine, then serve or cover and store in the refrigerator.
• Dice peppers, onion, and garlic.
• Slice Lit’l Smokies smoked sausages diagonally.
• Heat olive oil in a large pan.
• Sauté peppers and onions on medium high heat for 5 minutes.
• Add garlic and continue for another 3 minutes.
• Add Lit’l Smokies smoked sausages and Creole (or Cajun) seasoning to blend.
• Heat until vegetables are translucent and Lit’l Smokies smoked sausages are browned.
• Transfer to a plate with a paper towel to soak up excess oils.
• Lightly toast French bread.
• Spoon tablespoon sized amount of blend onto the toasted French bread.
• Drizzle with rémoulade sauce.