Sausage Gravy and Dumplings

This recipe turns biscuits and gravy into a one-pot meal. Cook the light, tender, and flaky biscuitlike dumplings atop the gravy in your slow cooker.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds bulk pork sausage
• 2 cups chopped onions (2 large)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley (optional)

Directions

1. In a very large skillet cook sausage, onions, and garlic over medium-high heat until sausage is brown and onions are tender, using a wooden spoon to break up sausage as it cooks. Do not drain. Sprinkle the 1/4 cup flour over sausage mixture; stir flour into the sausage mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat for 1 minute. Gradually add the 3 cups milk, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in fennel seeds, sage, and pepper. Transfer mixture to a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker.
2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 2 to 3 hours.
3. For dumplings, turn slow cooker to high-heat setting. In a medium bowl combine the 3/4 cup flour, the cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl combine whisk together egg, the 1/3 cup milk, and the butter. Add egg mixture to flour mixture. Stir with a fork until moistened. Using two spoons, drop dough directly on top of sausage mixture in cooker, making a total of eight mounds.
4. Cover and cook for 25 to 30 minutes more or until a toothpick inserted into a dumpling comes out clean. (Do not lift cover during cooking.) If desired, sprinkle dumplings with parsley.