Sausage, Peppers, and Onions the Way We Remember

Salsicce con Peperoni e Cipolle
Sausage with peppers and onions is now a very popular dish throughout the U.S. At fairs, carnivals, and beaches throughout the country you can find a vendor selling Italian sausage and pepper sandwiches. As kids we ate a lot of sausage and peppers, at least twice a month – it’s a quick meal that’s inexpensive to make. I recall a lot of family gatherings where the scent of sausage and peppers was all around – this dish is a crowd pleaser and great for informal buffets.
What makes this humble dish so good is really the quality of the sausage. Depending on where you live, the kind of Italian sausage you get varies. I know that in Louisville, Kentucky, I just can’t rediscover the wonderful sausages that were available at Long Island delis and supermarkets. My sister Adele used to live right near an Italian grocery mart called Meat Farms – the sausages were made fresh every day. They made sweet Italian sausage rings, links, hot Italian sausage rings and links, and even had sweet rings and links filled with parsley and Italian cheeses, and a variety of other types.
In Louisville, you will only find “Italian hot sausage” and “Italian mild sausage.” Truth be told, the name is the only aspect that’s Italian – Having lived in the New York metro area and travelled throughout Italy, I cannot recall any type of “Italian sausage” that looks like what’s being sold here. Aside from looks, their taste is nothing like “the real McCoy.” “Italian sausage” may be written on the package, but it sure doesn’t exist inside it!
If any of you are encountering a similar problem finding authentic Italian sausage, there is hope: I purchase mine from Landi’s Brooklyn Pork Store – they are reputable and reasonably priced; the meat always arrives on time and frozen. The sausages are made fresh to order the day before they are to be mailed, then frozen, and then immediately sent out via UPS – the order takes exactly two days to arrive from the day they send it. Believe me they are delicious – I get the parsley and cheese links and rings – they taste just like the ones at Meat Farms in Bay Shore, L.I. When you make sausage and peppers with these, you, indeed, did make the real dish!
By the way, they also supply me with veal cutlets, thinly cut and from the leg – they are $12.95 per pound – very reasonable – and 10 cutlets to a pound – they look and taste like the New York ones. They are very tender and great in all veal dishes. If you’re interested, their web address is: http://www.brooklynporkstore.com/.
Here is my recipe for sausage and peppers – one thing I do differently from the way Sam and Gilda made them is that I grill the sausage first in a grilling pan until crispy, and then I cut them up and add them to the onions and peppers. Sam and Gilda would fry them in the pan and either leave the links whole or halve them before cooking; if they used a sausage ring, they would cut it up before cooking as well. Either method is fine – delicious both ways.
Ingredients for 4-6:
1½-2 lbs of ring Italian sweet cheese and parsley sausage, grilled on both sides (that’s my favorite – you can use whichever you prefer)
2 T of sausage fat (to be collected during the grilling)
2 medium red onions, sliced (use whatever onions you prefer)
6 toes of garlic, cut up in small chunks
3-4 large bell peppers, cut into pieces, a variety of colors (you can use all of one color if desired)
4 sprigs of fresh oregano, leaves removed and cut up, or 1 T dried
About 1 c of your favorite tomato sauce (optional – in Syosset we used to prefer it without – it tastes good either way – if you’re in a passionate mood, use the sauce)
Olive oil for frying (need not be extra-virgin)
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano for topping (I don’t know what I’d do without this cheese!)
Preparation:
Poke a few holes into the sausage every three inches or so to allow the fat to drip while the sausage is cooking. On a grilling pan cook the sausage until brown on all sides, reserving about 2 tablespoons of that sausage fat – you’ll use it later. When done, place sausage ring or links on a platter and put aside.
In a very large frying pan, pour enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Put in the oregano and turn the flame to medium. When hot, put in the onions, garlic, peppers, and sausage fat you collected earlier. Fry the mixture, turning every-so-often to prevent sticking.
In the meantime, take the cooked sausage and cut it into 1 or 2 inch pieces (Sam and Gilda would sometimes cook the links whole or cut them in half; if they used the sausage ring they would cut every 1 to 2 inches, keeping in mind they would pan fry the sausages at the beginning, then periodically pour out from the pan any water produced by the sausages).
As soon as the peppers, onions, and garlic are soft and nearly caramelized, add your sausage pieces to the pan, mixing everything together. Let simmer on low for about 10 minutes to allow flavors to interact. Then, if I do not plan to use the sauce, I like to let the sausage and peppers rest for an hour before serving – the flavors continue to develop through and through during that hour. Then I would reheat before serving guests and top their portions with grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
If you plan on using the sauce, then add it after the 10 minutes of simmering. Let it cook very slowly uncovered for about 20 minutes on a low flame, putting on the lid halfway to prevent splattering (be careful – check lid often because condensation can occur, allowing liquid to fall into the sausage and peppers – you don’t want that unless you desire soup).
Then, remove lid and turn off flame. I like letting mine rest a while, but you can serve immediately if you wish. Top with that wonderful grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
Serve with good, crusty Sicilian bread with the sesame seeds – have the bread all cut up to allow your guests to dunk it into the juices – just delish.
Buon appetito!