Quick Sausage En Papillote: Awesome Recipe from Jacques Pepin
This Quick Sausage En Papillote (Sausage in a Packet) is hands down one of my absolute favorite supper recipes! I was watching Jacques Pepin’s short videos on Facebook this summer and was intrigued by this seemingly simple yet flavorful one-dish recipe. That evening I decided to put it together and was rewarded with an incredibly tasty and flavorful meal.
Most people will be intimidated when they see an unusual word and will ignore the recipe. The French word “En Papillote” pronounced “ah~ pah/pee/yoht” simply means cooking something in a packet or pouch. So, don’t let the term scare you. It’s really a technique of cooking all these deliciousness in an aluminum foil packet. The food is steamed within the packet resulting in a moist and flavorful dish. Don’t skip this one!
Fast forward, it’s almost autumn now and I must have made this recipe and its variations (once with vegetarian sausages and another time with sliced lamb meat!) at least a dozen time. I love that the hands-on prep time is short, the clean up is minimal and most important of all, it tastes fabulous!
This Quick Sausage En Papillote literally takes less than 15 minutes to put together and you’ll have a flavorful well-rounded meal in no time. This is a recipe I simply had to share because this will be such a useful go-to recipe for those busy-busy weekday nights. Once you get the hang of it, the recipe is extremely flexible and the variations are endless. You can substitute and add what you have at hand, or of course with your favorite sausages or veggies. Did I mention I think Jacques Pepin is a culinary genius?! This is a good example why! Onwards to the recipe…
Ingredients for Quick Sausage En Papillote
To make this quick and easy dish, you will need these ingredients:
- 1 lb Italian Sausage, hot or sweet, casing skin removed
- 1 lb Kielbasa, casing skin removed
- 4 baking potatoes, halved
- 8 bella mushrooms, halved
- 2 large carrots, halved and cut into 3″ chunks
- 1 large onion, halved
- 1 garlic, whole head
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 3 Tbs olive oil
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme, sage, and or rosemary
- parsley or cilantro, for garnish
For equipment, you only need 2 items: a large piece of foil, approx 32″x 12″, large enough to contain and seal in the ingredients, and a cookie sheet to hold the packet when it is cooking in the oven. Simple!
Putting Sausage En Papillote Together
Let’s start by gathering all the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut a piece of cooking aluminum foil to approx 32″ long by 12″ wide. Place on top of a regular cookie sheet with half of it extended beyond the sheet.
Next, prepare all the ingredients according to the recipe. If the vegetables are very large, feel free to quarter them. Then, put all the sausages, vegetables, seasonings, herbs and oil (except the garnish) on the foil on the sheet. Fold the foil over the ingredients and secure the three open sides of the foil by rolling the edges twice on itself. Be sure to wrap loosely so that there is space for the food to steam inside the packet.
Pop the cookie sheet with the papillote in the preheated oven for one hour. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Carefully open the foil; the food should be steaming hot inside.
Place the entire packet on a pretty serving platter (or maybe not!), sprinkle with garnish and serve immediately. Bon appétit!
Here are a few variations I have made:
Variation with more veggie with prosciutto with red onions and broccoli vegetarian version with lamb and various veggies
Postscript:
The most common ingredient you see using this “en papillote” method is probably fish. I thought it might be interesting to see what other recipe variations are out there. I stumbled upon this useful link from the Great British Chefs website that is showcasing some of the best recipes using this technique. I’m adding it here as reference => https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/collections/en-papillote-recipes
Quick Sausage En Papillote from Jacques Pepin
Equipment
- Heavy Duty Cooking Aluminium Foil
Ingredients
- 1 lb Italian Sausage, hot or sweet
- 1 lb Kielbasa, skin removed
- 4 baking potatoes, halved
- 8 bella mushrooms, halved
- 2 large carrots, halved and cut into 3" chunks
- 1 large onion, halved
- 1 garlic, whole head
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 3 Tbs olive oil
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme, sage, and or rosemary
- parsley or cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut a piece of cooking aluminum foil to approx 32 inches long by 12 inches wide. Place on top of a regular cookie sheet with half of it extended beyond the sheet.
- Prepare all the ingredients and put all the sausages, vegetables, seasonings and oil (except the garnish) on the foil on the sheet. Fold the foil over the ingredients and secure the three open sides of the foil by rolling the edges on itself. Wrap the foil loosely so that there is space for the food to steam inside the packet.
- Pop the the cookie sheet with the papillote in the preheated oven for one hour.
- Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Carefully open the foil; the food should be steaming hot inside. Place the entire packet on a pretty serving platter, sprinkle with garnish and serve immediately. Bon appétit!
Notes
More Flavorful Food Ideas:
If you are in the mood for something sweet, please check out my post on Grape Clafoutis here => Absolutely the Best Quick and Easy French Grape Clafoutis Recipe!
Just in time for the autumn and harvest season, please check out my post on making a fancy boule of bread => How to make Whole Wheat Bread Pretty!
How about checking out these delicious Swedish Cardamom Knot Buns (Kardemummaknutar)? If you love cardamom, these are like little packs of edible heaven. 😊
Made this tonight – kids’ version had pork and apple butter sausage, adults’ version had jalapeño and cheddar pork sausages. Both iterations were tossed with carrots, red pepper, cauliflower, potato, zucchini and onion. so easy. delicious! Thank you, Jessica!
Hi Natalie! So happy you liked the recipe. Thanks for trying it! 😋❤️