Sausage with Peppers and Onions

When you grow up in a British family, you eat bangers. You just do. If you don't, you're missing out. You eat them with mashed potatoes and gravy, or in a sandwich with grilled onions. You eat them slathered with HP sauce. You eat them however you can get them.

I can only imagine that if you grow up in an Italian-American family, the same is true of Italian sausage (only perhaps without the HP sauce). I have long heard about the quintessential Italian sausage + peppers + onions combination. Tonight I decided to try my hand at making it (only with shallots instead of onions). I bought some lovely crusty rolls to make it into a sandwich.

It was really good. I didn't see stars, but I could definitely see why this is a tradition of sorts. The sweetness of the peppers, the spiciness of the sausage, and the occasional crunch of sweet grilled shallot, all gathered together in a freshly baked roll - it definitely gets the job done.

And yes, I did put HP sauce on mine (not pictured). Couldn't resist.

Sausage with Peppers and Onions
inspired by Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything
serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

Cooking spray
2 links of hot Italian sausage (preferably turkey sausage)
1 tablespoon EVOO
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1 bell pepper (any color), cored and sliced into strips
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat up a small skillet over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray. Puncture the sausages a few times with the tip of a sharp knife and cook, browning on all sides. Add a few tablespoons of water to the skillet after the sausages have browned and cover with a lid. This will steam the sausages so they cook faster. (I learned this from Rachael Ray). Cook until done, about 10 to 15 minutes.

2. While sausages are steaming, heat EVOO in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add shallot and cook for a 4-5 minutes, until just starting to brown. Add the peppers and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook all the veggies together, tossing around occasionally, until tender, about 5 more minutes.

3. Transfer the sausages from the watery skillet to join the peppers and onions, just to brown them up a bit more. Serve.

Easy. Tasty. Good. Enjoy!