The single man’s guide to Hot Sausage: there’s a first time for everything

 

Have you ever been in the grocery store, saw an item and thought to yourself “I want to eat that” but you pass it by because a) you know it’s not good for you or b) you don’t know how to prepare it?

Well, I sure do every time I walk past the meat counter and see those hot sausages.  Gosh there’s nothing I’d like more than one of those crusty, aromatic hoagie rolls filled with a hot sausage & peppers;  BUT I’VE NEVER MADE THEM AS I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO COOK ‘EM—for me, they’ve always been an infrequent delicacy.

That all changed today though—I went grocery shopping earlier, and saw some of those plump, bright red hot sausages on display & thought “how hard can it be?”  (As it turns out, easier than pie;  all they needed was a dash of common sense and a few taste-tests along the way.)  

Of course I might’ve done it all wrong (I wasn’t working from any recipe) but I thought they turned out great!  If there’s a better way, let me know. 

ApacheDug’s Hot Sausage Sandwiches (makes 4)

• 4 links hot sausage
• 1 large onion
• 1 green pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Minced Garlic
• 16 oz can tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
• Hard (hoagie) rolls

1.  Brown the sausage links in one teaspoon olive oil.  (Don’t cook them all the way thru; just brown ‘em, 7-10 minutes.)

2.  Remove sausage from pan, set aside.  Leave the oil & sausage drippings in the pan, add the sliced onion, green and red peppers cut into julienne strips. 

(Heat and stir the onion & peppers for just a couple minutes, enough to coat them with the oil & soften them a bit.)

3.  Now stir in the can of tomato sauce, teaspoon of minced garlic & half teaspoon of white sugar (to reduce the acidity).  Add the browned sausages back to the mix.  Cover and simmer on low heat for one hour.

4.  Time for a taste test!  Hmm… the sauce needs a little more kick.  I added a couple shakes of crushed red pepper flakes.  (These are potent little devils, so really just a couple shakes will do it.)

5.  Much better!  But it still needs a little more spice.  Stir in a couple dashes of onion powder, and taste again.

Okay, that’s good!  Cover again and let it simmer for another 2 hours.

And that’s it!  After those 3 hours, the sausages are fully cooked & the sauce is reduced to a thick, tomatoey blend of onions and peppers.

Some red-skinned potato salad makes the perfect accompaniment (it sure helps when you have a deli right up the street) and of course, any leftovers are going into the freezer for some future penne pasta. 

Enjoy!