Sausage and peppers - a summer treat from the grill

[Stinky The Clown]

The classic Italian sausage and peppers dish is done on the stove in the kitchen. Fry up the sausage. Mild or hot Italian fennel sausage - you know the kind. Available anywhere. While the sausage is frying, fry up some green peppers, onions, tomatoes (usually canned), season with salt and pepper, some parsley, and maybe some basil and/or oregano. Put the sausage on a sandwich roll. Top with the peppers. Eat.

The grill version is much richer and more layered.

Clean and cut up some red, yellow, orange, and green peppers. Leave them in large pieces so they can be grilled. Put them in a bowl and season generously with olive oil and salt. Mix to coat. Grill the peppers skin side down until the skin is charred in spots - maybe 5 minutes or so. Turn them over and cook a few minutes more. Remove from the grill and let them cool a bit.

Slice an onion thick and grill the slices until they start to shrink a bit and have grill marks. Turn and grill the other side. Remove and hold.

Cut in half some fresh, ripe tomatoes. Remove the seeds and pulp. Your finger or thumb is the best tool in the world for this. Grill them skin side down for about 3 to 5 minutes. No need to turn them. remove from the fire and allow to cool a bit.

Use a toothpick and puncture the sausage casings about every 1/2 inch all over (to allow the fat to drain out while they cook). Grill the sausages until done, turning to get them evenly cooked. A little char on the surface is a good thing. Burnt on the outside .... not so good.

Remove the sausages. When they're cool enough to handle (I use a paper towel to handle them cuz they're still a bit hot) slice them diagonally so you get oval-ish slices about an inch and a half long. Make the slices an 1/8 inch or so thick.

Put a splash of olive oil in a pan. Cut the onion slices in half and put the onion in. Allow it to sweat down a bit. Now dump everything else into the pan. If the sausage is fully cooked, just bring it all to temperature and serve. If the sausage is still a little under done, allow it to cook in the veggies till done.

Add herbs (minimally, just parsley, but basil and oregano are also great additions). Adjust the salt and add fresh ground pepper.

Serve on nice, crusty rolls as a sandwich.

If your wife is not a meat eater (like my wife), take out some of the veggies before you add the sausages. Put the veggies on a roll and top with some sharp provolone cheese. Just about as good as the sausage sammiches!

This can be made ahead and reheated. Won't hurt it a bit.

What I like about this as opposed to the traditional version is the wonderful smoky grill taste that permeates everything. REALLY good!

[eleny]

1. Italian Feast food!

[Lugnut]

2. Yum!

I love sausage and peppers but I never tried to grill them. Thanks for the motivation. :)

[bearfan454]

3. Your thread inspired me Husb2Sparkly

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x9565

[Stinky The Clown]

4. Your variation looks great!

I love using macaroni with nothing but some parm on it as a side dish.

Were your banana peppers hot or sweet?

[bearfan454]

5. Hot n/t

Right from the garden