The beach may be calling your name. The sun may be whispering for your glistening skin. The palm trees may be seeking your company – and it just doesn’t matter. Summer, winter, rain or shine – sausage and peppers are an any-time-of-the-year-just-because type of dish. Just because it doesn’t get better than this. Think of sausage and peppers as the new black (or is it orange now?). Who cares. You shouldn’t. Because these are delicious. Throw some red wine in this baby? It’s perfection (that’s right. Because red wine simply has that effect on food – okay, okay. Maybe it has that effect on everything – me included). But let’s get real folks: there’s a creeping heat from the peppers, a richness from the wine, the nuttiness from the cheese – and did I mention sausage? Who doesn’t love sausage. This gal does. So let’s get started.
Sausage, Peppers and Onions in a Spicy Tomato Sauce:
- 5 links hot Italian sausage
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 orange bell pepper, diced
- 1 anaheim pepper, diced
- 1 serrano pepper, diced
- 1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (less if you don’t like spicy)
- 1/2 tablespoon oregano
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 1/2 tablespoon rosemary
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 16 ounces tomato sauce
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 1/2 cup pecorino romano cheese + additional for garnish
Alright friends – despite the ingredient list, this is actually pretty simple. Begin by piercing the sausage casing all the way around to allow the fat to cook off.
Next, let’s slice and dice all of our peppers and onions and mince our garlic.
Then, in a large saute pan add the three tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat. Once hot, add the peppers, onions and garlic.
Letting cook over medium heat, we are going to mix in the crushed red pepper, oregano, fresh thyme, rosemary, pepper and salt.
Mix well. In the meantime, in a separate saute pan, cook the sausages for about 7 to 8 minutes or until almost cooked through (but not quite – because we want to reserve the last bit of cooking for the onions and peppers).
Switching back to the peppers and onions – once they are mostly cooked through, about 10 minutes or so, add your tomato sauce, tomato paste and sugar (the sugar offsets the bitterness of the paste – just trust me!).
Once the sausage and peppers are mostly cooked through, incorporate into sausages into the peppers and onions,.
Let simmer for an additional five or so minutes or until the sausages have cooked through. Plate this beauty up and serve with your pecorino romano cheese – enjoy!
Now… last but most certainly not least: the wine, of course. And for this baby we need something bold, something spicy, something to kick butt just like this dish. So, our choice? The 2010 Domaine Du Joncier Lirac Le Classique. Earthy, rich with dark fruit and loaded with black pepper and spices. Absolutely delicious. And just a few words of wisdom – open this bottle up and let breathe for an hour or two. Well worth the advanced planning – it really opens up.
Cheers!
