So you made your lovely French bread…today I want to share something that we make with that wonderful bread! These sandwiches are incredibly simple and flavorful This is something you can prep ahead of time and make even on a weekday. We used a spicy sausage (habanero pork sausage from our local Whole Foods) which was a nice complement to the sweet peppers. An addition of some tomato adds some depth; they basically disintegrate and create a wonderful sauce. It’s a really great dish for fall; hearty without being heavy. Yum! What do you think??
Kelly
Sausage Sandwiches with Peppers and Onions
3 Bell Peppers (Assorted Colors)
1 Large Onion
1 Tomato
1 Pound pork sausage
1 T Worcestershire Sauce
½ C Red Wine
1 T Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
1 baguette
Parmesan cheese (for garnish)
Slice the peppers and onions lengthwise, keeping the onions separate.
Slice the sausages on the diagonal using a good knife (putting the sausages in the freezer for a half an hour before you slice them will help.)
Preheat the oven to 350° and place the bread in the oven whole. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the sausage to the pan and brown on both sides, about 4 minutes.
Move the sausage to the outside of the pan, then add the onions to the center of the pan.
Allow the onions to soften, about 2 minutes, then add the peppers and toss the ingredients together.
Allow to cook about 1-2 minutes before adding the tomatoes and the liquid ingredients. Season with salt and pepper.
Cook to reduce the sauce by half.
Slice the bread in half lengthwise and cut into sandwich sized pieces. Serve the sausage and pepper mixture on the open bread making sure to spoon some sauce on top. Garnish with some grated parmesan cheese.
Enjoy!
PS. Don’t worry if there are leftovers, we will show you a way to use them coming up!!
Every once in a while we come across a product worthy of sharing with you. These are things that we love to use, if you know about them, we would love to hear what you think!! San Marzano tomatoes are some of the most famous in the world. This brand is something we came across in a lovely shop in our area. Try them out for yourself!
Kelly
Years ago I saw these La Valle San Marzano tomatoes on “Follow That Food”. Only thing …it was impossible to get in my area, without paying twice the cost in shipping. I finally saw these recently and bought a couple cans to see if they were really any better.
Usually I get a restaurant sized can of tomatoes at Costco (Hunt’s, I think?). I crush them by hand and remove the flower end of the tomato core. It’s good and I get a large pot of marinara out of one can.
Initial Impression:
Opened the can of La Valle tomatoes and I did notice a difference. The sauce was a rich, silky tomato puree. The broth in the other version was very watery so I’d set it aside and not add it all, so I didn’t get the sauce too watery.
The Work:
Proceeded to remove the cores and that was the second difference. The unusable part was small. When removing the cores in the Costco version, almost 25% of the can was filled with cores. In the la Valle version, there was just a little. They didn’t even fill the bottom of the can.
Cooking: I made a sort of chicken cacciatore, but no mushrooms, more of a chicken and peppers dish. (To be shared with you soon, stay posted!)
It was simple so you could taste the tomatoes. Just sautéed chicken, onions and mixed peppers and herbs. It came out fantastic. The tomatoes were sweet, silky and had a kind of earthy background flavor.
Overall, I thought they were great. Worth the money if you can afford it. If not use the Costco version and perhaps add a little tomato paste.
Mary
It is just getting to feel like fall here in Colorado. This may be my favorite time of year; comfortable days and cool nights. We have the benefit of beautiful seasons and amazing colors on the trees, especially in the mountains. Plus, I love being able to go and run any time of day and feel comfortable! Things feel kind of relaxed and crazy at the same time this weekend, so I am glad to be done with errands and take a quiet night at home with a glass of wine, some Chicken Fried Rice and football. Hope you have a fabulous weekend!
Kelly
Vacationing in Aspen, we came across some beautiful Olathe sweet corn. Our Colorado corn can be really good at the end of summer. Lazy day rummaging through my hosts’ cookbook collection I found a side dish to try. Only thing was that we wanted a main dish. The recipe (from Gourmet) admonished the reader not to try to improve it . Hmmph. A challenge. What we ended up with was nothing like the original. I decided to use our favorite way to spice up something bland; marinate it in hot sauce. We didn’t have Franks Wing Sauce that day and we used an exotic Hawaiian hot sauce, though I can’t remember the name. Franks always works though. I tried it again when I got home and it was still great.
Summer Shrimp
1lb shrimp.
4 ears corn
Basil and or mint
Scallions
1-2 Large Tomatoes
Franks Wing Sauce (regular)
Butter
Salt
Pepper
Peel the shrimp if necessary. Pour ¼ c. Franks Wing Sauce in a bowl. Add shrimp. Set aside to let marinate while preparing the rest.
Remove the corn from the ears. A bundt pan helps here putting the corn in the circle and scrape down so the kernals fall into the pan.
Melt 1T butter in a frying pan, add 1T olive oil.
Drain the shrimp, leaving the residual sauce on. Saute shrimp until pink and curled, about 2 minutes. Sometimes the shrimp will exude liquid. If that happens reduce the sauce or drain again.
Remove shrimp to a plate and set aside. Melt one more Tablespoon of butter to the shrimp pan, now empty. Add corn and sauté for 2 minutes, or till warm. Add the reserved shrimp and chopped tomatoes. Pepper generously and salt with celtic salt.
Remove from heat and tear basil and mint on top and serve.
It’s super fresh this way. But a little bacon would be nice…
Mary
This week seems to have gotten away from me! I am a bit behind on posting, but I thought I would share with you a fabulous summer pasta dish. When you have lots of zucchini around, this is a great way to use it. Not to mention this dish has bacon…umm yum. (Ali says that everything should come with bacon and a biscuit! Gotta go to the DMV? Here is your bacon and a biscuit!) Anyway, the bacon works quite well here. This may not be the lowest calorie dish, but it is amazing and so silky. I made this for an impromptu dinner for some friends and we killed the dish. It was fabulous! This is from Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver. I love Jamie’s food and the whole concept of knowing what goes into your food and where it came from. It is something we strive for with regular trips to the farmers’ market and by growing some things at home. I would love to do more, but even the small steps make a difference. Do you have strategies for eating local and wholesome? I would love some tips! For now, go find some fabulous zucchini and try this one out!
Kelly
Beautiful Zucchini Carbonara
Courtesy of ‘Jamie at Home’ by Jamie Oliver
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 medium green and yellow zucchini
1 pound penne
4 large free-range or organic egg yolks
½ cup heavy cream
2 good handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Olive oil
12 thick slices (about 1 pound) of bacon, cut into chunky pieces
Small bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked and chopped, flowers reserved (if you can find flowering thyme)
Optional: a few zucchini flowers
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Halve and then quarter zucchini lengthwise. Cut out and discard any fluffy middle bits, and slice the zucchini at an angle into pieces roughly the same size and shape as the penne. Smaller zucchini can simply be sliced finely. Your water will now be boiling, so add the penne to the pan and cook according to the packet instructions.
To make your creamy carbonara sauce, put the egg yolks into a bowl, add the cream and half the Parmesan, and mix together with a fork. Season lightly and put to one side.
Heat a very large frying pan (a 14 inch one is a good start – every house should have one!), add a good splash of olive oil and fry the pancetta or bacon until dark brown and crisp.
If there is a lot of fat, you can pour some of it off. Add the zucchini slices and 2 big pinches of black pepper, not just to season but to give it a bit of a kick. Sprinkle in the thyme leaves, give everything a stir, so the zucchini become coated with all the lovely bacon-flavored oil, and fry until they start to turn lightly golden and have softened slightly.
It’s very important to get this next bit right or your carbonara could end up ruined. You need to work quickly. When the pasta is cooked, drain it, reserving a little of the cooking water.Immediately, toss the pasta in the pan with the zucchini, bacon and lovely flavors, then remove from the heat and add a ladleful of the reserved cooking water and your creamy sauce. Stir together quickly. (No more cooking now, otherwise you’ll scramble the eggs.)
Get everyone around the table, ready to eat straight away. While you’re tossing the pasta and sauce, sprinkle in the rest of the Parmesan and a little more of the cooking water if needed, to give you a silky and shiny sauce. Taste quickly for seasoning. If you’ve managed to get any zucchini flowers, tear them over the top, then serve and eat immediately, as the sauce can become thick and stodgy if left too long.
This is all that was left!! Enjoy J
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