Easy Italian Sausage, Potato and Bell Pepper Saute’

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Lea Ann

In a fry pan and In olive oil (I used basil flavored oil)
Saute’ par-boiled cubed potatoes until starting to brown
Add wedges of yellow and green bell pepper
Add broken up pieces of Italian Sausage
Flavor with a couple of good pinches of Italian Seasoning
(I used a Tuscan blend that contains flakes of hot red pepper)
Cook, stirring occasionally until everything is mostly done

Cover with lid and let steam for five minutes

Italian Saute’…It’s What’s For Dinner

One Year Ago: Tikka Masala
Two Years Ago: Ham Hash with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Sausage the Old-fashioned Way from North Denver Sausage Company

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Lea Ann

This is a slice of dry-cured hot Italian sausage, dripping in a marshmallow cream sauce. Sweet, spicy, salty, chewy, sticky…a surprisingly delicious experience.

How much do you know about REAL dry-cured sausage? For one, it’s famously difficult to make, one salumiere called it “the pinnacle of the art of meat” And it’s increasingly hard to find. A field trip this past weekend to North Denver Sausage left me “encased” in new knowledge about an old fashioned process. Let’s take a look.

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Zuppa Salsiccia, Italian Sausage Soup

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Lea Ann

Zuppa Salsiccia simply translates to Sausage Soup, which seems like such a modest description for this incredibly flavorful dish.

This soup, hands down, is our favorite in my database. I’ve had this recipe for many years and every time we make it we comment about why we don’t have it more often. Alongside a beautiful green salad dressed with your favorite vinaigrette and a chunk of crusty bread, this is elegant enough to serve as a main course at a dinner party.

An easy fix, the hardest part is giving up a cup and a half of good drinking red wine to simmer in the broth. The combination of both sweet and hot Italian sausage which has long simmered in beef stock, red wine and tomatoes, seasoned with green bell pepper, garlic, onion and basil makes for an incredibly flavorful treat. Ladling it over some al dente large shell pasta and topping with it with some shredded Parmesan cheese finishes this delicious soup. You really must give this one a try.

Zuppa Salsiccia:

3 links hot Italian Sausage
3 links sweet Italian Sausage
1 1/2 cups good quality red wine
3 cups beef broth
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
2 green onions, sliced thin
1 whole green pepper, chopped
2 Tbs fresh parsley, chopped, plus some for garnish
2 Tbs dried basil
3 whole garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbs olive oil
Parmesan cheese
Large shell pasta, cooked al-la-dente

1. In a deep pan brown sausage thoroughly, remove from pan and drain well. In same pan saute onions, green peppers and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add sausage and red wine and bring to a boil. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for at least one hour.

About 15 minutes before soup is done, cook the pasta according to package instructions, drain and keep warm. In a soup bowl spoon a few pasta shells, pour a generous helping of soup over top. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and some parsley for garnish.

Servings: 8

Zuppa Salsiccia…It’s What’s For Dinner.

Zuppa Salsiccia is heading over to paradise for Deb’s Souper Sunday.

And also entering this in: “Come join Soup-a-Palooza at TidyMom and Dine and Dish sponsored by Bush’s Beans, Hip Hostess, Pillsbury and Westminster Crackers”

Italian Sweet Frying Peppers

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Lea Ann

Did anyone notice this basket of Italian Sweet Frying Peppers that appeared in my Pete Polombo slide show? This is the first time in my life I remember seeing them available for sale. When I googled “Italian Frying Peppers”, one entry indicated that these peppers are the same as Cubanella peppers. Any experts out there?

Italian peppers, stuffed and ready for frying

Whatever they are, I love them. Offering a sweet yet intense “pepper” flavor, something about them screams “It’s Amore”. I wish I could find these peppers year round, they’d definitely amp up my Italian recipes. From what I read about them, being medium fleshed makes them an excellent candidate for frying.

Frying the stuffed peppers, face down in some olive oil

A sack full of these delicious sweet peppers made their way home with me and voila, the next day I opened up Food and Wine Magazine and saw this recipe for Stuffed Italian Sweet Frying Peppers. It was meant to be.

This recipe comes together easily and is simply delicious. The peppers are so unique in flavor that I will not try this recipe with regular green bell peppers, but will wait to prepare this until when I can get my hands on some more Italian Sweet Frying Peppers. Thank you Grace Parisi of Food and Wine for a great and savory combination.

The only variation I made was to tear off some small chunks of fresh mozzarella and insert here and there into the stuffed peppers. I liked the addition and will alter the recipe for my database.

Cooked and ready for some tomato sauce

Spinach-and-Sausage-Stuffed Peppers

One 5-ounce bag baby spinach
2 slices of white sandwich bread, finely chopped
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons pine nuts
2 tablespoons chopped red onion
1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 small or 4 large Italian frying peppers—halved lengthwise and cored, stems left intact
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup canned tomato sauce
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
A few chunks of fresh mozzarella cheese to poke here and there into the stuffed peppers

Directions

In a very large skillet, cook the spinach over high heat just until wilted, about 1 minute. Drain and press out all of the water. Coarsely chop the spinach. Rinse out and dry the pan.
In a large bowl, knead the chopped bread with the milk, egg and cheese to form a paste. Knead in the pine nuts, onion, sausage and spinach and season lightly with salt and pepper. Using lightly moistened hands, divide the mixture among the pepper halves and lightly pack it in. Add chunks of fresh mozzarella gently pressing into the stuffed peppers.
In the skillet, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the stuffed peppers, filling side down, and cook over high heat until well-browned, about 4 minutes. Turn the peppers and cook until the skins are browned and blistered, about 4 minutes longer. Add the tomato sauce and chicken broth, cover and simmer until the sausage filling is cooked through and the peppers are tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to plates and serve right away.

Stuffed Italian Sweet Frying Peppers…

It’s What’s For Dinner.