Italian Sausage & Peppers

You will find after making this once,  that the combination of peppers and sausage are nothing short of brilliant!  To be made over and over again for dinners, football games, or just a good snack! A guy favorite!

• 1 cup olive oil
• 5 Italian Sausages (Spicey)  (approx 20 ounces)
• 1 Vidalia (or other sweet onion), halved & thinly sliced
• 1 Red Onion halved & thinly sliced
• 1 Red Bell Pepper, stem removed, sliced into strips
• 1 Green Bell Pepper, stem removed, sliced into strips
• 1 Yellow Bell Pepper, stem removed, sliced into strips
• 5 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped
• 1- 28 oz can of whole Italian tomatoes
• ¾ cup of red wine or red vermouth
• 2 tblsp of dried oregano or marjorem
• 2 tblsp of dried basil
• For Extra Heat:  2 tblsp of red pepper flakes

     Add 2 tblsp of olive oil to a pan over medium heat and brown the sausage on all sides.  Remove from heat when done & set aside covered. It will continue to cook until it cools down.

     With the same pan over medium heat, add 2 more tblsp of olive oil, and add the onions and garlic.  Sauté until softened.  Once to this point, add the sliced peppers, and sauté for another 5-10 minutes until they begin to soften.  Scoop out of the can, your whole tomatoes, leaving their juice behind (save it for your next marinara sauce!) and add to the onion/pepper mixture in the pan.  The whole tomatoes will break down as you stir this mixture.  Add your wine/vermouth at this point as well.  Slice the sausage into ½ inch slices, and add to the pan.   Bring the entire mixture to a simmer over medium low heat, cover and let bubble for the next 15-20 minutes.  You want a brothy consistency with the sausage and peppers so they will soak into your bread over the next few days. 

     Serving Suggestions:  The night you make it make, serve some garlic bread with a nice, rustic, crusty bread with it to soak up the broth it creates.   I serve it with a small side of Fettuccini Alfredo or just with the garlic bread. 

     The next day (I always make enough to have leftovers) heat the pepper/sausage mixture up over medium heat.  While it heats up, get two sandwich rolls (a good sour dough or French bread sandwich roll) and toast face open on one side.  Once out of the toaster, drizzle the rolls with a bit of olive oil.  Load the rolls up with the sausage/pepper mixture, grate generously with parmesan cheese, and put the sandwich under the broiler briefly to melt the cheese.  Enjoy!! Makes a great lunch bite!

Update on Thursday, August 4, 2011 by Eddy Cameron

08-04-2011

We're having it again tonight and I cannot wait.  It smells devine in here!

Comments

[Judy]

Hi Jessica, your recipe is interesting. My hubby's Sicilian family never adds tomato sauce to their sausage & peppers, but I think it would complement the dish nicely.