I grew up in a household that made most meals from scratch. When my parents would return from the butcher with large chunks of beef and pork and we knew that sausage day had arrived. We'd all take turns grinding the meat by hand, mixing in the garlic and spices and then switching out the grinding attachments to the funny looking sausage-making ones. My brother and I would take turns spinning the handle, cranking out our very own super garlicky sausages. I loved it. Not only, at that young age, did I realize that I was doing something very different from the rest of my friends, I knew that dinner that night would be awesome.
Many years later I became a vegetarian and remained one for a good ten years until I caved. You guessed it, I turned my back on vegetarianism for a taste of sausage. It only took one bite of magical sausage to turned me back into my carnivore ways and I haven't looked back since. My husband and I aren't big meat eaters, but it feels a bit more like the house I grew up in when we've got a sausage or two in the fridge.
Now that the nights are turning cooler, this makes an ideal dinner. You can use uncooked Italian sausage links instead but as I had some delicious already-cooked mennonite farmer's sausage on hand, that's what I used. If you do choose to use some uncooked sausage links, just fry them up until the sausage is cooked before hand and add in the onions, garlic and peppers.
This is a spicy meal and I fully made use of my gigantic bag of dried hot peppers. Feel free to use crushed dried chilies in the amount that works for you. Spicy Sausage & Peppers
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, sliced into strips
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 large peppers, sliced into strips
2-4 dried chilis, crushed
1 large cooked farmer's sausage, cut into slices
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 small tin (15 oz) of pureed or diced tomatoes
salt & pepper, to taste
In a large skillet, heat up the olive oil over med-high heat. Saute the onions and garlic until slightly wilted. Add in the peppers and the dried chilies with a small hit of salt and a good grind of pepper. Stir around until the peppers get a bit soft. Add in the sausage, oregano and the tomatoes. Fill can up with water and pour into the pan and give everything a good stir. Turn down the heat to a simmer and cover for about 20 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened. Serve with rice, bread or pasta.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, sliced into strips
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 large peppers, sliced into strips
2-4 dried chilis, crushed
1 large cooked farmer's sausage, cut into slices
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 small tin (15 oz) of pureed or diced tomatoes
salt & pepper, to taste
In a large skillet, heat up the olive oil over med-high heat. Saute the onions and garlic until slightly wilted. Add in the peppers and the dried chilies with a small hit of salt and a good grind of pepper. Stir around until the peppers get a bit soft. Add in the sausage, oregano and the tomatoes. Fill can up with water and pour into the pan and give everything a good stir. Turn down the heat to a simmer and cover for about 20 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened. Serve with rice, bread or pasta.
