Here we have another quick and easy staple of our kitchen. Andy absolutely loves sausage and peppers. It’s one of those things that he seeks out if we go to a county fair or a festival, there’s always a stand selling hot sausage with peppers and onions. While it’s always exceptional, it’s also something that can very easily be made at home and eaten in a multitude of ways. Sometimes we’ll leave the sausages whole and serve them on a bun like a hot dog, sometimes we’ll toss the sausage mixture with ziti and bake it up, topped with ooey-gooey cheese. Sometimes, like last night, we’ll use the mixture to simply toss pasta, and sometimes, we’ll use the mixture to fill a calzone. All are delicious, and all told, this is a less-than-thirty-minutes meal start to finish.
The first step is the Italian sausage. I prefer turkey Italian sausage myself, and try to keep at least one package of it in the freezer to have on hand. Since our kids don’t have much of an appreciation for heat yet, we use sweet sausage, although I bet Andy would prefer the hot sausage. Sometimes we’ve also used regular pork and beef Italian sausage, but I personally prefer the flavor, and less grease of the turkey sausage.
I use my nonstick pot, heat it up and add the sausages whole, along with a little glug of water. The water keeps the sausage from sticking badly to my nonstick, and it also helps the sausages to cook evenly. If the water dries up, just go ahead and add more to the pot. Turn the sausages from time to time, and once they’ve cooked through, remove them from the pot, and set them aside for a while.
Now the onions and peppers need to go into the pot. There are two choices here. One, you can add a little more water and then add the peppers and onions. Or, you can add a drizzle of oil to the pot to help them brown up. I tend to brown the onions and peppers if the sausages have been cooked on the grill, but normally, I just add a little more water to the pot and then add my onions and peppers. They soften after a while, and once you are happy with their texture, you can slide the garlic into the pot to heat up and contribute to the sauce you are making. After a minute or two, grab your favorite jar or bottle or can of marinara and dump it in. By all means, if you have your own, homemade sauce on hand, add that, but don’t feel bad about reaching for a bottle of sauce. Just check the ingredients before you buy and make sure that sugar or HFCS are not listed as major ingredients.
With the marinara added to the pot, I then sliced up my sausages and slid them into the pot, with their juices. I let the whole mixture bubble away gently for a while then while I set to cooking up some tortellini and some peas to accompany. The whole dinner takes about 20 minutes to put together, and just couldn’t be easier. The whole family enjoys it, and the kids even asked for seconds last night.
Sausage And Peppers
1 package Italian Turkey Sausage 1 onion, thinly sliced 1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 can/jar/bottle of marinara sauce 1/2 cup hot pasta waterhot pasta to serve Parmesan cheese to serve
Directions:
In a non-stick pot, pour about 1/2 cup of water in the bottom of the pot and turn the heat up to medium high. Add the sausages to the pot, and cook, turning frequently, until firm and cooked through. Remove the sausages from the pot to a cutting board.
If there is still water in the pot, go ahead and add your onions and peppers. If there is not water in the pot, you can either add more water, or a few tablespoons of olive oil to keep the onions and peppers from sticking. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the onions and peppers until soft, about 5 minutes or so. **At this point you have a choice, you can continue cooking the onions and peppers by themselves until the brown, or you can continue with the recipe at this point, it’s completely your choice.
Add the garlic to the peppers and onions, and cook for about two minutes. Pour in the marinara, and bring to a simmer.
Meanwhile, slice the Italian sausage into chunks. Slide the sausage, and any accumulated juices into the marinara and simmer the whole mixture for five to ten minutes. Just before serving, stir in the 1/2 cup reserved pasta water.
Serve over hot pasta, and topped with Parmesan cheese.
Serves four.