Baked Beans and Sausage Casserole

This is a very simple and easy meal that satisfies the hunger and people ask for more. The diced tomatoes are optional. It calls for draining off the liquid. You can  leave it in and cook the baked bean dish longer or at a higher heat to evaporate the extra liquid, or pour it into a container cover with a lid and place it in the refrigerator to use in another dish.

Ingredients

1 lb. Italian sausage, hot sausage or your favorite sausage
1 c. smoked ham, cut up (Optional)
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 (15 oz.) cans pork and beans ** see below
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained (Optional)
1 to 2 tsp.  mustard
1/3 to 1/2 c. ketchup
1/4 to 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 Tbs. molasses
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°.

In a large cast iron skillet, crumble and cook the sausage over medium heat until no longer pink. 

Add the onions and pepper to the skillet. Saute until the vegetables are tender. Drain.  

Add the pork and beans, and diced tomatoes. Mix in, using the minimal measurement amounts first, mustard, ketchup, brown sugar and molasses. Stir to mix. Taste the baked bean mixture to see if it needs more mustard, brown sugar or ketchup.  We like a sweeter base, while others like it less sweet. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Bake for 1 hour.

***You can use  1 (28 oz. ) can baked beans instead. just omit the mustard, ketchup and brown sugar from the ingredients.