Sheet Pan Sausage, Potatoes, and Whatever You've Got

1. Heat the oven: Heat the oven to 425°F. Pull out your largest rimmed sheet pan. If everything won't fit in a single layer, use two pans. Crowding is what turns roasted potatoes into steamed potatoes.
2. Start the potatoes: Toss 1.5 pounds baby potatoes, halved (or larger potatoes cut into 1-inch chunks) with 3 tablespoons melted lard, 1.5 teaspoons salt, and 0.5 teaspoons black pepper right on the pan, along with any hard vegetables (see notes). Spread into a single layer, cut sides down. Roast 20 minutes. Potatoes take longer than everything else, so they get a head start.
3. Add the vegetables and sausage: Pull the pan out. Add 6 cups mixed vegetables, cut into 1-inch pieces (whatever you've got) and 4 garlic cloves, minced and toss with the potatoes. Lay 1 pounds fresh pork sausage links (one pack) whole across the top. Leave the links whole for the whole roast. Slicing them raw dries them out and you lose the juice to the pan.
4. Roast: Back in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until the sausage is cooked through and browned and the potatoes are crisp at the edges. Give the pan a stir halfway if you think of it.
5. Slice and serve: Slice the sausage into rounds and toss everything together on the pan. Taste and add salt if it needs it. Sausage seasoning varies, so this is the step that makes the difference. Serve straight off the pan.

Notes

Which vegetables and when to add them. This is a use-what-you-have recipe. Two rules:

Hard vegetables (carrots, sweet potatoes, beets, turnips, winter squash, Brussels sprouts, cabbage wedges) go in at the start with the potatoes.

Quick vegetables (peppers, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, zucchini, summer squash, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, kale, leftovers) go in later with the sausage.

Half a bag of forgotten carrots, the last two peppers, whatever's coming out of the garden faster than you can eat it. It all works.

Feeding more people? One pound of sausage feeds four alongside all those vegetables. If you've got teenagers or you want leftovers for the week, use two packs and spread everything across two pans.

Switch up the sausage. We used plain here because it lets the vegetables come through. Sweet stuffed sausage makes it a little richer and goes especially well with peppers, onions, and fennel. Hot stuffed sausage does the same with some heat behind it, and it's very good with potatoes and cabbage. Same cooking time for all three, so it's an easy way to make this a different dinner every time.

Using loose sausage instead: Break it into walnut-sized chunks over the vegetables in step 3 instead of laying links on top. Don't crumble it too fine or it'll dry out. Same cooking time.

Fat swaps: Tallow, avocado oil, or ghee all work in place of the lard. Use the same amount.

Prep in the morning: Chop the potatoes and vegetables the night before or before work and keep them covered in the fridge (potatoes in water so they don't brown, then drained and patted dry before roasting). When you get home, toss and go. Hands-on time after work is about five minutes.

Leftovers for lunches: Portion into containers while it's still warm. Good cold, good reheated, and it holds up about four days. Crack an egg over a reheated portion and it's breakfast. Roll it in a tortilla and it's a burrito.