Dinner Tonight: One-pot Sausage and Peppers

I love good, old fashioned comfort food, as anyone who has read this blog should realize.  One of my favorite foods is a nice Italian specialty that my Dad used to make once in a while (but never as often as I asked for it), sausage and peppers.  He would do it on a flat top griddle, with homemade marinara cooked in a separate pot and served over the sausage and peppers on a hoagie roll.

My take on it kicks the flavor up by cooking everything in a single pot, allowing the flavors to marry much more effectively.  This is quick and simple, and a great way to make comfort food accessible to everyone.  I prefer hand made sausage to pre-packaged, and get mine from the local New Seasons Market.  If you have access to locally made and grown ingredients, always use them rather than processed food.  

I served it on a ciabatta roll to evoke some of my childhood memories, but you can easily make this gluten free by serving it over brown rice or Paleo by serving it by itself.    Another great thing about this recipe is how easy it is to scale.  You can cook this for 8 or 80 very easily, and it tastes just as good if not better the next day.  Give this one a try folks, this a very important and flavorful slice of Fat Boy Heaven.

Sausage, Pepper and Onion One-Pot

YIELD

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• • 2 pounds Italian hot and/or sweet sausages
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), divided
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seed
  • 1 red chili pepper, thinly sliced
  • 2 cubanelle peppers, thinly sliced
  • 1 red bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced
  • 2 large red or yellow onions, thinly sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 can tomato sauce or stewed tomatoes (15 ounces)
  • A generous handful of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
  • 1 loaf ciabatta bread

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1. Place the sausages in a high-sided skillet or Dutch oven and cover with 1 inch of water and add 1 tablespoon EVOO to the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat a bit and allow the water to boil away. The sausages will gently cook through in the water, and then the EVOO will crisp the casings up to a deep brown.
  2. Remove the sausages to a plate.
  3. Heat the remaining EVOO, a couple of turns of the pan, in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the fennel seed and chili pepper, then add in the peppers, onions and garlic as you slice them. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 15 minutes to soften. Stir in the tomato paste for 1 minute, then the wine for 1 minute more. Add the chicken stock and tomato sauce or stewed tomatoes. Finish with parsley.
  4. Slice the sausages on an angle and add them to the pot. Cover, cool completely and store for a make-head meal. Reheat, covered, over medium heat or in oven on moderate heat.
  5. Crisp up chunks of bread in a warm oven just before serving for mopping up your plate!
  6. Cook's note: Wrap the bread in plastic or freeze if not using within 24 hours.