Sausage, Peppers, and Onions
- Tracy Scheckel
- Dec 18, 2024
- 3 min read
Talk about an Italian staple; when I think of all the times that sausage, peppers, and onions in served, it make me wonder how we have time to eat anything else. You can't go to a carnival, church feast, or a seaside boardwalk without being wooed by this dish's aroma. Even if you're not hungry, all of a sudden you are.
In my family, sausage and peppers were served at every event where there were more than 10 people; barbecues, birthday parties, graduations, christenings, super bowl parties, you name it.
With New Year's approaching, I want to share my recipe and one of my family's New Year's Eve tradition. There is a connection, I promise....
When I was young I recall a couple of New Year's Eve parties at my great aunt and uncle's house. At midnight Aunt Mary Sanfratello would walk around with a pot of cotechino con lenticchie (sausage with lentils) and a ladle for everyone to have a taste -- from the same ladle (gross). I can barely eat off the same plate as my spouse or kids so you can imagine how much I loved this ritual. Anyway this was supposed to bring wealth and prosperity.
Fast forward to New Year's Eve when I get to set the menu. For years our family spent the evening with out neighbors Alan and Debbie and their family. Debbie and I would split up the cooking and it would be a night of board gaming, card playing, and lots of eating and drinking. I'll spare you all the karaoke stories.
Thankfully the Restaino New years Eve tradition included the sausage but not the lentils and that gave us another occasion to serve -- you guessed it -- sausage, peppers, and onions. AND, even better, everyone got their own plate and fork.
There are a couple of variations to consider: skinny (chipolata) or traditional fatter sausages, hot or sweet, cut them or leave them in links. include potatoes or not, and tomato sauce or not.
Decisions decisions.....
I'll be excluding the potatoes, and using the traditional thick 1/2 sweet and 1/2 hot sausage for this post. I will also be including tomatoes which is my preference. Without naming names, there is someone near and dear to my heart who prefers the dish without the tomato sauce, but them he puts freaking catsup on it! I can't tell you how many times I've prepared the dish without the tomatoes only to have it desecrated that way! Well not this time! I'm sharing it my way!
THE RECIPE:
1 lb each of sweet and hot Italian sausage (you can use 2 lb of either kind as well)
6 bell peppers, yellow, red and or green. (I like 1 green, 3 red, and 2 yellow or orange)
2 large onions
3 cloves garlic minced fine
1/4c olive oil
2T dried oregano
1 -- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes or marinara sauce
The plan here is to cook the sausage whole and then cut it into medallions.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Place sausage, olive oil, and minced garlic in a baking pan and bake for 30 minutes or so turning the sausage over half way halfway through
While the sausage is browning and cooking, cut the peppers and onions into chinks that will mimic the size of the medallions
When the sausage is done, remove it from the pan and cut it into 1/2 to 1" medallions.
Place the cut up sausage back in the pan
Place the peppers and onions on top of the sausage
Pour the crushed tomatoes or marinara over the veggies
Sprinkle with oregano and salt and pepper to taste
Cover and seal well with aluminum foil and return to the 400 degree oven for 30 minutes giving the veggies time to steam crisp tender and the tomatoes to cook up a bit.
I like the medallion method for a couple of reasons, first it's easy to serve as part of a buffet, secondly I think it's more versatile for serving because it works well in a sub roll but also very nicely served atop some risotto, polenta, of even white rice or egg noodles.
