Skillet Nachos with Turkey Sausage: Recipe

I dated a guy once (haven't we all?). It didn't work out, but I would do it all over again for one solitary reason: his mother's recipe for what the family called "turkey nachos". 

I can still remember the first time I was introduced... Boyfriend and I were hanging out at his house (he lived at home, back at the age when it was still acceptable), and his mother popped in to ask if I was staying for dinner. I confirmed, and later we were all conjoining in the kitchen ready to eat. "We're having turkey nachos!" Boyfriend and his sister suddenly exclaimed with excitement. "What is that?" I asked tepidly, taking a step back with mounting panic. I was having visions of sandwich meat and strips of Christmas turkey laid out across a bed of tortilla chips and slathered with ballpark cheese. 

These people hate me, I thought in broken devastation. This will be my last meal. I'm either going to die because I ate it, or die because I turned it down. A plate was thrust in my hand and I was ushered to the stove where...."Hey, this looks like ground beef!" I said in amazement. "I thought you said turkey nachos?" They all looked at me. "It is turkey. Turkey sausage." I looked down at it in confusion. It looked exactly like taco meat. And it was covered in cheese, but it was legitimate cheese, not the least bit questionable. And it smelled incredible. It was making my mouth water. So I spooned a small portion onto my plate, and sat down to give it a try. 

After that first bite, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Seriously, it was divine. I went back for seconds, and then thirds, and I may have even had fourths. By the end of the week, his mother had handwritten the recipe for me and I was holding it in my hand, ready to make about sixteen helpings of it straight away. 

In the midst of my first attempt, however, I found that the recipe was not as easy as she had made it sound. She made it all the time, and the entire family said it was "easy" and "fast"; that's why they had it regularly. I was bummed at the enormous failure of my mission, and I filed the recipe away somewhere, knowing that no amount of trying would result in the same caliber of nachos I had enjoyed that first night and many times after. 

But some time later after I had fallen in love with the kitchen and experimenting with cooking and baking, I decided to give it another go; but this time, I was going to try it my own way. So I did. And it turned out great! I've since made it a hundred times, and probably never the same way twice. Some versions are much tastier than others, but today's version...well, let's just say it's my new favorite by a landslide. 

I don't owe it entirely to my own merit, however, because I stole the basis of the recipe from Tasty Kitchen's Pizza Nachos intended for Superbowl parties. The original recipe I believe came from Dax Phillips of Simple Comfort Food, and that recipe can be found here. But my take on this dish is fairly different, so here is my version. :)

SKILLET NACHOS WITH TURKEY SAUSAGE

Ingredients:

Tortilla chips

1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves of minced garlic (translates into 1-1/2 tsp)

1/2 cup of heavy cream

1/4 cup of milk

1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese (powdered; not shredded)

Salt

Pepper

Crushed Red Pepper flakes

2 cups of Cheese (shredded)

Sliced pickled Jalapenos

1 tube of Turkey Sausage

Onion Powder

Cayenne Pepper

Optional - Montreal Streak Seasoning

Instructions:

I suggest starting out by browning your sausage in a skillet on the stove, adding a dash of salt, pepper, Montreal Steak seasoning, Cayenne pepper, and several dashes of onion powder, and then stirring thoroughly. After meat is well-browned, remove from heat and set aside. 

1. Now make your garlic sauce. Begin by melting the butter along with the olive oil on medium to low heat in a small or medium sauce pan. Once melted, toss in the minced garlic and stir. Raise the heat up to medium/medium-high. Add in the cream and milk and stir until it comes to a boil. Add in the salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes followed by the parm, and continue stirring. Once the sauce is thickened, remove from heat and set aside.
2. When you are ready to make your nachos, preheat your oven to 400ºF. I used another cast iron skillet for this, but if you do not have one, build your nachos on an oven-proof dish. First add your chips to fill the the bottom of the skillet, and then drizzle the garlic cream sauce all over the chips. Top with the browned sausage, and add your jalapeno slices on top of that. Make sure to do some great layering so that all chips are covered. Top with the cheese, and then place in the preheated oven, and cook until the cheese is nice and bubbly (though still not fully melted), roughly 5-7 minutes or so.

I swear, you will not regret giving this a try! It's great for intimate parties, or just a fun meal for your household. I refrigerated my leftovers for lunch later this week. YAY! The teachers at my lunch table will be jealous when they smell it. ;) 

Hope everyone has a fantastic remainder of this chilly weekend!

-Amber