I have a coworker friend who told me about a great sausage and pepper recipe that his family loves which I've been thinking about for some time. I intend to try his actual recipe very soon - it sounds perfect for football Sundays. If I understood him correctly, he takes up to 6 green bell peppers and sautes them over low heat until they've almost caramelized, and with good quality italian sausages cooked up alongside. I had a few peppers, and wanted to try this technique of longer, slower cooking to make the peppers sweeter. With some extra cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, mozzarella, and a couple of fresh sausages, it was a delicious weekday meal that only took about half an hour to make.
Grocery list: 2-3 italian sausages, casings removed, 2 green bell peppers thinly sliced, quartered cherry tomatoes (half a pint or more), cubed fresh mozzarella, handful of chopped fresh basil, 1 pound pasta.
The prep work for this dish was very simple - just slice your vegetables and chop the sausage and mozzarella into bite-size pieces.
Start by sauteing the peppers over medium heat in olive oil, for at least 10 minutes, until they start to brown. Cook the pasta according to the package directions (save a little of the cooking water to stir into the cooked pasta along with some olive oil, so you won't need as much oil to keep it from getting sticky).
Next, add the sausage and continue to cook until the sausage is cooked through, about 8 minutes more. Then, turn off the heat, and stir in the chopped basil, mozzarella, tomatoes, and pasta. Season well with salt and pepper (and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, if you want a little kick).
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3 comments:
You like pierogies don't you? I have done this same thing with peppers, onions, sausage, and pierogies too...it's REALLY good!
I made this yesterday myself. I ended up with red peppers from the store this time, and cooked them for about 30 min (I started them before the pasta water even) - long enough to start to melt but not to lose their form completely. After they were starting to soften pretty good threw in the hot italian sausage (knowing it wasn't a terribly greasy variety). About 10 min from the end I threw in about 6-8 minced garlic cloves and about a teaspoon of bruised fennel seeds and a liberal pinch of italian herbs. A bit of salt and a pinch of sugar to taste to balance it out. I spooned it over spaghetti and liberally doused each portion with grated Romano (saltier) and Parmesan (richer). It's a hearty, fairly dry, pasta, a good complement to cool crisp sides - such as your cherry tomatoes and mozzerella on a baguette slice ;-).
Jonathan - amazing!! I finally have your recipe in writing (you know my memory - if I don't write it down it's as good as gone :)
Thank you for sharing! I will try it and blog the results soon.
Liz - what kind of pierogies did you use? I've never had them but they're big in Pittsburgh I think, so that means I HAVE to try them at some point ;)
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