Italian Sausage and Peppers - Two Ways

After we came back from Chicago, J. bought two long links of sweet Italian sausage from Moloney's Meat Market in Jersey City.  It was my job to figure out what to do with them.  I had never cooked with Italian sausage before but I love to get sausage and peppers at street festivals.  So I made two variations, pasta and sandwich, over the course of two nights.  Both are essentially the same ingredients, but tweaks in the method.  My preferred method is the sandwich version because the roll does a better job soaking up the juices.

Night 1: Sausage and Pepper Pasta (pictured above)

1 10 inch link of sweet Italian sausage, sliced at angle.  (I didn't remove the casing, you really should)
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped into bite-size pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped into bite-size pieces
handful of grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic minced
1/2 pound of whole-wheat penne pasta
parmesan cheese for sprinkling at the end
1 T and 1 tsp (separated) olive oil

1. Start boiling water for pasta.  When it reaches a rolling boil, drop in pasta and cook according to the directions on the box. Reserve about 1/3 cup of pasta water for later.  Drain pasta.

2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet.  Cook sausage slices until browned. Set aside

3. Return pan to heat. (add a little more oil if necessary).  Add red and green peppers and onion. Cook until they start to brown.  Push the vegetables to the edges of the pan, and in the empty space in the middle, add 1 tsp of oil and minced garlic.  Cook for about 30 seconds or until fragrant, and stir the garlic with the rest of the mixture.  Add grape tomatoes. Cook for about another minute or two.

4.  Add cooked pasta, and reserved cooking water to the pan and toss.

5.  Sprinkled parmesan cheese on top and serve.

Makes about two servings

Night 2: Sausage and Pepper Sandwiches


Same ingredients as above, except swap the pasta for two rolls, and omit the tomatoes.  We bought rolls from the bodega around the corner from us.  They came from one of those plastic bins that you fish out the rolls with tongs.  The bin didn't have a label, but I think they are portuguese rolls.  Also instead of chopping and mincing the vegetables into small pieces, I simply sliced them so they would be easier to eat in a roll.

Cook the sausage and vegetables the same way as above.  But instead of mixing it with pasta, spoon it in to rolls.

Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Sandwich

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against fast food. I am a big fan of the various chains and the delicious, savory sandwiches, and crispy tater tots they serve. I am, by no means, a health nut.

But I am not a fan of going out in rainy, cold weather to get my food. So one rainy morning in college, when I was too reluctant and too cash-strapped to walk across campus to buy breakfast, I had a brilliant idea, “Why not make the sandwich in my very own kitchen?”

The beauty of cooking at home is that you can adjust the ingredients to your taste and make lighter, healthier versions. This, of course, only works if you have all the ingredients in your kitchen, which I didn’t always have in college.

When I finally had all the ingredients on hand, I faced another problem – timing. If you toast the bread first, then it will be cold by the time the eggs and bacon are done, and vice versa. Then there was the challenge of getting the cheese to melt perfectly. One method I tried, which was inspired by a Brooklyn deli sandwich, was enveloping the cheese within the egg while the egg cooked to make a sort of egg and cheese omelet within the sandwich. The result was delicious, but made for messy, gooey eating.

So this is the method that I developed over years of trial and error and it is the method I used today on this rainy and cold morning.

Ingredients:
2 slices of whole wheat bread (or bagel, or English muffin, or biscuit)
1 large egg
2 slices of low-sodium bacon (or turkey bacon, or ham)
1 slice of American cheese (or any other cheese you desire)
1 pat of butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Place the bread into the toaster oven, so it will be ready to go, but do not toast it yet.
2. Melt butter in pan set at medium-low heat. While the butter is melting, scramble the egg
3. Once the butter has melted and is starting to foam, throw in the egg and cook until it reaches desired doneness. Set the egg aside on a plate and add salt and pepper.
4. Raise the heat on the pan to medium or medium-high heat. Begin cooking bacon.
5. When it is time to flip the bacon, hit the switch on the toaster to toast the bread.
6. When bacon is done (I prefer my bacon to be chewy rather than burnt to a crisp, so this usually means about 3-4 minutes on each side.), set aside on a paper towel to drain.
7. Right about now, the toast should be done toasting. Take it out and immediately assemble the sandwich so that the cheese is touching the bread. The heat from the bread needs to melt the cheese.
8. If, during this time, your sandwich seems to be a bit cold, place it back in the toaster oven for about another minute or two.
9. Enjoy with a cup of home-brewed coffee or tea!