Anthony's Weiners AKA Sausages, Peppers and Onions

For those of you who don’t know me that well, I have a little bit of an unusual background. Even though I grew up in a Jewish family in Shaker Heights, OH, my parents decided to send me to a private girls’ school for my education – K through 12 nonetheless! While the school claimed to be nondenominational, apparently this open religious mix didn’t include Judaism. That meant I grew up singing hymns in chapel every morning, walking down the church aisle with a lit candle during my middle school graduation, and attending all of my friends’ Christmas parties and debutante balls.

You can probably imagine that moving to New York was a little bit of a shock to my system. People who would see my straight blond hair and hear my Midwestern accent were always shocked to hear I was Jewish. Even my husband Bob insisted I was the biggest shiksa (Yiddish for gentile) that he had ever met.

I’ve lived here now for 25 years, and in that time I’ve learned to cook the traditional brisket for Passover meals and can even make a mean noodle kugel, a big Chanukah hit with Bob’s family. Even so, when I want some comfort food, it just doesn’t come from within me to tap into that vast and ancient source of traditional Jewish food. If I need something to satisfy my soul, I’m not running into the kitchen to whip up a batch of matzo ball soup or down to the deli to buy a potato knish! (Although I do have a soft spot for latkes, but then again, who doesn’t like salted, fried potatoes!)

My comfort food tends more toward the Italian side (I don’t know why as my family never ate Italian food growing up. We were solid meat and potatoes, and considered pizza to be some type of exotic delicacy reserved for once a year max!) I think it all goes back to when I was pregnant with my oldest son, Sam. Once I got over morning sickness, I had a constant craving for lasagna, stuffed shells, baked ziti, or penne a la vodka – anything with pasta, oozing cheese and dripping tomato sauce. (Unfortunately with Spencer, my younger son, I woke up every morning with a hankering for a Heineken; thank god for nonalcoholic O’Doul’s!)

Anyway, I really love to cook Italian more than any other food. Lately, the problem is that Bob has decided to go on a no carb diet, making most of my favorite pasta dishes off limits. I was thinking today of what I could make that would fit into Bob’s diet and still be hearty enough a meal for my boys, who jointly seem to be able to devour the contents of our entire refrigerator at a single sitting. I finally decided upon sausages, peppers and onions. No carbs, but lots of protein.

Skimming the Internet, I found a recipe on Food.com from Giada de Laurentiis that I tweaked ever so slightly to suit my needs and taste buds. What I especially like about her recipe is that it uses turkey sausage, as opposed to pork, offering a healthier option without sacrificing the flavor. I decided to use a mix of turkey sausages - a sweeter one with spinach and feta, a hotter one with red pepper flakes, and a third with broccoli rabe and garlic. And yes, that’s because it’s what I could scrounge up from the depth of my freezer! I do think a mix of sweet and spicy sausages is always a nice combination.

The great thing about this dish is it not only tastes incredible, it also smells heavenly during every step of the cooking process/journey. I started by heating some extra virgin olive oil in a sauté pan and browning the sausages. From the second the cut-up links (I chopped each sausage into 2-3 pieces) started sizzling in the pan, the searing scent of grilling meat permeated the air.

Once the sausages were browned, I removed them from the pan, and then added thinly sliced onion and a combination of cut up green and red peppers, letting the mixture sauté until it softened.

The intoxicating aroma of the cooking vegetables was perfumed with the addition of basil and oregano (I used fresh herbs because I had them, but dried herbs are fine as well), and punctuated by the scintillating bite of chopped garlic.

For the gravy, I added a can of chopped tomatoes and a little tomato paste, and last but not least, the key to this dish’s success – Marsala wine. The wine is essential because it boosts the flavor of the sausages and the sweetness of the peppers.

After I returned the sausages to the pan, I let the dish simmer on the stove for a while to let the sauce thicken into a nice gravy. At this point, you will probably want to do a taste test to see if you need to add a little salt and pepper. If you like things on the spicy side, feel free to also add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the pan. To tell you the truth, I taste-tested this dish enough times to count for an entire meal, yet still sat down with my family and served myself a full-sized portion at dinner! While Bob and I ate the dish sans carbohydrates, I made a bowl of penne pasta for my boys; it was perfect for soaking up the gravy. You could also serve this on an Italian sandwich roll.

So, while some members of the “tribe” (M.O.T.) might seek comfort in a half-pastrami-half corned beef on rye, I’d have to say that sausages, peppers and onions would be my go-to dish for the record!

Sausages, Peppers and Onions

Adapted from Food.com, Giada de Laurentiis

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound Italian turkey sausage - 1/2 sweet, 1 /2 hot

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 yellow pepper, sliced

2 yellow onions, sliced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (or 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh oregano)

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves (or 2 tablespoons dried)

4 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup Marsala wine

1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional

4 to 6 fresh Italian sandwich rolls, optional OR

1 lb penne pasta, cooked, optional

Directions

Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausages (can cut them into 2-3 pieces if you like) and cook until brown on both sides, about 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and drain.

Keeping the pan over medium heat, add the peppers, onions, salt, and pepper and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the oregano, basil, and garlic and cook 2 more minutes.

Add the tomato paste and stir. Add the Marsala wine, tomatoes, and chili flakes, if using. Stir to combine, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release all the browned bits. Bring to a simmer.

Add the sausage back to the pan and stir to combine. Cook until the sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes.

Serve in bowls over penne pasta. Or, if serving as a sandwich, split the rolls in half lengthwise. Hollow out the bread from the bottom side of each roll, being careful not to puncture the crust. Fill the bottom half of the roll with sausage mixture. Top and serve sandwiches immediately.