Week Night Yum Yum: Sausage and Peppers

If you are looking for a hearty meal as winter is approaching that's easy enough to throw together during the week, that is filling and satisfying and super tasty then this is the dish. Digging back to my east coast times I remember I used to make this dish once a week during busy law school schedules between me and the Hubsters. It's tasty, fast to throw together, and everyone loves it. I like serving it with a hunk of freshly baked crusty Italian bread myself, but if you prefer pasta then go ahead and make a batch; this dish is hearty enough to stand up to a meatier noodle like rigatoni easily.

Here's what you need:

Sausage and Peppers
1 lb mild Italian sausage (spicy if you like it)
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 very large yellow onion, peeled and sliced
4 cloves garlic (we like garlic; hold back if you don't)
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
3/4 cup marinara sauce (store-bought is fine)
crusty Italian bread for serving

Bring the sausage up to room temperature. Cut the sausage into larger bit-sized pieces. (You don't have to, but the dish will cook faster this way if you do).

Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan. Add the sausage and cook, turning occasionally, until evenly browned. Turn the temp to low and remove the sausage out of the pan. In the same pan the sausage cooked in, add the sliced peppers and onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring the heat up to a medium and cook stirring occasionally until the vegetables are softened and beginning to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Throw the sausage back in with the peppers and onions, then add the marinara sauce. Stir to combine. Bring the temperature to low and cover with lid. Cook another 10 minutes so sausages can get cooked through.

To serve, simply spoon out the mixture and serve with a big piece of bread. If you prefer you can hallow out the bread and make sandwiches with the sausage and pepper mixture instead. Or, serve over cooked pasta of your choice. You can top it with some parmesan, but back east we didn't do that. :)

Enjoy!