sausage and peppers

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Easy Roasted Sausage, Peppers, Onions, & Potatoes

These ingredients are together for a reason.

Each ingredient tastes great on its own. But. When you combine Italian sausage (hot or mild) with onions and peppers (and the potatoes just up the ante)…it’s cause for some taste-bud celebration.

Roasting them together couldn’t be easier. I just blanche the potatoes first to give them  a start. But then everybody into the pool! (Oven, really.) MMMmmmm!

Baked Sausage, Peppers & Potatoes

Serves 4-6

4-5 small red potatoes
2 medium onions, yellow or white
2 red or green bell peppers
1-1.5 lbs Italian sausages
olive oil for drizzling
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Rinse & peel the potatoes (or leave peel on if you prefer) and cut them into ½ inch wedges. Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Blanche the potatoes for 2 -3 minutes. Drain.

Peel onions and cut them into ½ inch wedges. Cut the peppers in half. Pull out the stem, and seeds. Cut into ½ inch strips. Line a sheet pan with foil. Add the potatoes, onions and peppers. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Toss to coat.

Cut each sausage into 2 or 3 chunks, or cut in half and then split lengthwise. Add to the vegetables. Roast in oven for about 45 minutes until vegetables and sausage are cooked through and starting to brown. Turn vegetables and sausages 1-2 times while cooking. Serve hot or warm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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(The Inevitable) Sausage and Peppers

sausage and peppers. you know you love it.

sausage and peppers. you know you love it.

It’s the quintessential Italian-American classic. Grilled, broiled, or pan-fried Italian sausages, with sautéed peppers and onions. The flavor (and the aroma) are exactly what it means to be Italian-American. It’s the “national” dish of the immigrants from Italy (especially Southern Italy) who made their home here in the “New” World.

For me, sausage and peppers originate on Mulberry Street during the San Gennaro Festival. The length of Mulberry Street is blocked to traffic. Arches of red and green lights shimmer over the pavement. Sidewalks are lined with overflowing food counters cooking and selling pizza, zeppole, cannoli, calzone, and sausage and peppers.

San Gennaro photo by Ed Yourdan via Creative Commons https://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/15402247580/in/set-72157648479562970

San Gennaro photo by Ed Yourdan via Creative Commons https://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/15402247580/in/set-72157648479562970

I think I must have been a teenager when I first pushed through those crowds. A group of us with a bottle of red wine in a brown paper bag in tow. Of course, I’ve been back many times throughout my NYC life, but in my later years it was actually a festival to avoid. Crowded. Touristy. The same ole, same ole.

San Gennaro photo by Ed Yourdan via Creative Commons https://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/15402247580/in/set-72157648479562970

San Gennaro photo by Ed Yourdan via Creative Commons https://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/15402247580/in/set-72157648479562970

But that doesn’t stop memories from glowing. And the sense-memory of downtown NYC air permeated with sizzling sausage, peppers and onions on a flattop–the ghost-taste of San Gennaro–gets me right into the kitchen to make some at home. An irresistible “gotta-have-it” urge.

When the urge strikes, I want this dish to cook fast. Here’s the fastest way I know how.

Slice 2-3 sweet peppers– red, green, orange, yellow, what you prefer. I think green has always been the standard, but I’m a fan of the other colors (green peppers have a lot more punch). And slice 2 medium onions. We’re looking for thin wedge-like slices.

cut up peppers & onions

cut up peppers & onions

Saute in a large saute pan with a little olive oil until softened. About 10-15 minutes. You don’t want it to cook forever because the peppers and onions will really start melting and attempt to disappear. Season with salt & pepper.

Meanwhile, get the oven to about 400 degrees. Poke 4-5 sausages in a few spots with a paring knife. Place them on a foil-lined sheet pan and roast until browned well on each side.

Sausages half-way browned

Sausages half-way browned

When they are cooked through, cut them in half with a diagonal cut. Add them to the already softened peppers and onions…

sautéed peppers and onions

sautéed peppers and onions

Let the sausages hang out in there for about 5 minutes or so (as you sauté on medium heat) until everyone gets acquainted and the flavors decide to get married. Then you’re ready to indulge. Of course, on Mulberry Street they will pile this concoction on a big Italian hero roll. I take the trying-to-avoid-bread-so-I-can-still-fit-into-my-jeans route. And just eat this wonder on a dish. Up to you!

sausage and peppers without the roll

sausage and peppers without the roll