Fusion is the order of the day, where we take the best of Austria and smash it together with the tradition of New York to create a new and wonderful masterpiece, Viennese Chicken Sausage Parmigiana.
Viennese Chicken Sausage Parmigiana
Undoubtedly one of the most fascinating culinary inventions of the past few years has got to be fusion. The combination of one culture’s food with another is magical – who would have thought that blending, say, the historic handmade cuisine of Mexico with the sophisticated palette of the state of Texas would bring us such wonderful dishes as beef and rice and cheese in a skillet, or macaroni and cheese and beans in a skillet, or pancakes and salsa in a skillet, or – perhaps the piece de resistance in all of fusion – shepherd’s pie with beans in a skillet!
Fusion dining reminds me of a vacation my family took in Europe; our first stay was in Vienna, home of Johanns Strauss (two of them!), art nouveau, and tiny sausages in a tin can. It truly is an amazing cultural experience, and it’s the legendary Viennese sausages that really left their mark with me. The thrill of opening a tiny container filled with briney wieners is a memory I’ll cherish forever, and in fact, is a culinary adventure that still captivates young and old to this day. I can still remember my Mama’s voice telling me, “Ludivine, you cannot eat all the tiny sausages in one sitting! They’re hors d’oeuvres, and company is coming over soon. Papa and I are hosting a Viennese key party, and I can’t tell you what that is because you’re but a child, but someday you’ll figure it out. Please leave them for the guests and go to your room, and stay there until the morning. Or maybe until noon, or 1pm. Actually just stay in your room until one of us says it’s okay to come out. You know what, take those sausages with you after all, if it’ll keep you out of our hair for the evening. Maybe take some crackers and cheese too.”
And speaking of cheese, after Vienna, we headed to Parma, Italy, best known for Parmigiano Reggiano, or simply Parmesan, a hard cheese that by law cannot be produced under that name anywhere else – except everywhere else outside of Italy! So we’ll skip over the pond to New York City, where it’s been said the dish chicken parmigiana was developed, along with other culinary masterpieces like pastrami on rye and really wet pizza dough. It’s with these two cities in mind that brings us to today’s fantastic fusion recipe that’s sure to satisfy the Austrian-American in all of us: Viennese Chicken Sausage Parmesan!
The Best Viennese Chicken Sausage Parmigiana
A fun cross-Atlantic fusion recipe that transforms finger food into a delicious entree. This recipe will take some time to prepare, and a few more ingredients than usual, but trust me, it's worth it!
Ingredients
Instructions
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Open a can of spaghetti and meatballs in tomato sauce and place in a strainer, over a measuring cup.
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Allow the sauce to drain out of the spaghetti and meatballs. Depending on the thickness of the sauce, this may take 5-10 minutes.
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Once the sauce is nearly fully drained from the spaghetti and meatballs, rinse the spaghetti and meatballs and set them aside for a future recipe if you wish!
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Open a can of Vienna Sausaages.
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Rinse the sausages and pat dry, then place on a cutting board.
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Using a rolling pin or meat tenderizer, flatten the sausages.
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Coat each flattened sausage in panko crumbs.
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Put oil in frypan and place on the stovetop over medium heat. When the oil is hot, place sausages in the fry pan and fry for about 2 minutes per side.
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Turn the heat to low and add your saved spaghetti sauce. Let the sauce heat up and ensure the sausages are covered completely.
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Place sausages on a plate and add parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
