Sausage, Peppers, and Onions

Merry New Year!

It’s hard to believe it’s 2012 already, but I’m ready for it [Hello, Italy. Is it May yet?]. I made it back from San Diego this afternoon. We broke up the 16 hour drive into two days on the way back because it made a lot more sense. As soon as we got back, we headed straight for the fridge the store across the street to get chicken and veggies for curry. Craving veggies was an understatement. Whenever time is spent in San Diego, it usually means a lot of taco shop trips in the form of carne asada burritos, animal style burgers at In-N-Out, and capicola sandwiches from Grab & Go Subs [and my weight in canolli from Filippi’s]. It’s why I forget to take photos. It would end up ridiculously repetitive. There was the massive prime rib dinner on Christmas Eve and a ham dinner on Christmas day, too. There is never a shortage of food on vacation.

Andrew gifted me two Wusthof knives I’ve been dying for ever since the cooking class, and his sister bought me the coolest owl apron [I’m sure there will be photo evidence soon enough]. It was the perfect excuse to make a meal for his family while we were in San Diego. Talk about breaking the out of the burrito and burger rut. I’ve made this twice so far with really good results. The key is the quality of the sausage. The one above wasn’t nearly as good as the one we used in San Diego [I could live in Little Italy], but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t taste awesome. Seriously, the rest of the ingredients are cheap. It’s worth the splurge. The final product is perfect by itself with some crusty bread to soak up the broth. It’s also great on top of some spinach tagliatelle and a side salad to make it go a little further. I was told it brought back memories of many Christmases on Andrew’s Italian side of the family. That makes cooking that much more fun.

Inspiration: Saveur Magazine

Ingredients

• 1.5lbs of high quality Italian sausage [I have used a spicy pork and a specialty with lots of herbs and peppers]
•  2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 1-2 green peppers, thickly sliced
• 1-2 red peppers, thickly sliced
• 1/2-1 teaspoon red chile flakes
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup chicken stock
• salt and pepper to taste
• minced parsley, for garnish
• pasta or crusty bread, to serve

Preparation

1. Bring the sausage, olive oil, and 1/3 cup of water to a boil in a 12″ skillet.
2. Once boiling, cover [I improvised with tin foil] and simmer for 8 minutes.
3. Uncover and turn until all sides of the sausage are browned.
4. Remove from skillet to cool.
5. Add the onions and peppers on medium-high heat to the oil/sausage fat mixture.
6. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and changing color–about 6-7 minutes.
7. While onions cook, slice the sausages into 1-1.5 inch chunks.
8. Add the garlic and chile flakes to the onions. Stir until garlic is fragrant–2-3 minutes.
9. Return the sausages to the skillet along with the chicken stock. Bring to a boil.
10. Cover again and simmer for 10 minutes.
11. Remove cover and taste the broth. Add salt and pepper as necessary.
12. Continue cooking until the broth thickens some–4-6 minutes.
13. Serve with parsley, crusty bread, and/or pasta.