Years ago I was competing in Erfuft, Germany with a CIA Culinary Olympic team. When the competition was over, we had time to walk around Erfurt (home of the famous poet Goethe).
There was a man grilling German sausages on a small grill in the center of the town square. I joined the long line of locals purchasing delicious, grilled German sausage with onions-amazing!
Sausage and Peppers
Sausage and peppers is a classic, many cultures have their own version. I love preparing my own sausages these days- plump and juicy, well-seasoned sausages—typically pork—paired with vegetables like hot or sweet bell peppers and onions, slowly cooked until the vegetables soften and caramelize, absorbing the rendered fat and spices from the sausage.
I owned a restaurant for years and had a small catering room for local events. Almost every party had sausage on peppers on the menu!
Culturally, sausage and peppers reflects immigrant cooking at its best: economical, adaptable, and deeply satisfying. It can be served piled onto a crusty roll, spooned over polenta, or plated simply with bread to soak up the juices. Variations appear across regions and households—some add tomatoes, hot peppers, potatoes...
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
Yield: 4 portions
Sweet Italian Sausage
2 Tbsp Olive oil
4 ea Italian sausages
2 Cups Onion, peeled and sliced
3 Cups Bell Peppers, deseeded, sliced
2 tsp Garlic cloves, minced
4 ea Hero roll
2 Tbsp Parmesan, Mozzarella, Provolone, shredded (optional)
tt Kosher Salt & Crushed Black Pepper
How to prepare Sausages
Step 1 Cooking the Sausages
Heat a heavy pan, add olive oil and gently place the sausages into the hot oil. Cook for 5 minutes at medium heat to brown the sauces, invert and cook for 4 more minutes. Take the sausages out of the pan and reserve on a sheet tray.
Note-you can also bake or broil the sausages in the oven; I usually prick the sausages to avoid splitting.
To cook, simply bake, saute or broil until the sausages reach an internal temperature of 165° F.
Step 2 Preparing the Peppers
See
beginner's onion and bell pepper recipes to learn to cut peppers.
Add the sliced onions and garlic into the pan that the sausages were cooked in, with the remaining fat. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally-it's ok for the onions to caramelize.
Add the peppers and continue to cook until the peppers are soft-about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 3 Assembling
Simply spoon the cooked onions and peppers into a casserole and top with whole, cooked sausages or cut the sausages and toss into the peppers and onions-place in the oven for 30 minutes to cook together.
Sausage and Pepper Sandwich
Pick your favorite bread for the sandwich-I like a cruncy, Italian hero roll the best.
Split the hero roll carefully and toast-you can drizzle olive oil or garlic butter onto the roll for an amazing flavor.
(See beginner's garlic bread recipe)
Spoon the hot sausage and peppers into the toasted roll and enjoy! Optional-top with shredded cheese.
