On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 00:42:36 -0500, Lady Cake wrote:

> Is is better to make Italian sausage & peppers in the oven? Or on the stove? What about a pressure cooker?
>
> Any good recipes? Which peppers are better.....red, green, or the fancy yellow/orange ones?

Hot Italian Sausage in Sweet Basil Sauce


1 lb. Hot Italian Sausages (in casings) cut in 1" to 2" pieces
2 Medium onions chopped
2 Red bell peppers (or one red and one green) cleaned and cut into 1"
pieces
3 Cloves of garlic sliced
2 Tablespoons oil (preferably olive)
2 Large cans whole peeled tomatoes
1 Teaspoon sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon sweet basil


Sauté two cloves of garlic, one onion and the bell peppers in a sauce pan.
When the onion is translucent add the juice from the tomatoes. Remove the
whole tomatoes from the can and chop them into 1' pieces. Add the tomato
pieces, sugar, salt and pepper to the sauce. Raise the heat until the
sauce is at a medium to rapid boil. When the sauce is thickened to 80% of
what is desired (45 minutes or so), sauté the remaining onion and garlic in
a frying pan using a little oil. When the onion is just beginning to
become translucent add the sausage pieces to the pan. Sauté the sausage
until nearly done. Remove the sausage from the pan and discard grease,
onion and garlic. Add the sausage and basil to the sauce, continuing to
cook it down to the desired consistency. Taste the sauce and add
additional basil if required. Sauce should have a slightly sweet flavor.
Serve over fettuccini, with parmesan cheese. This will provide sufficient
sauce for 5 or 6 servings.

The object of this dish is to contrast the hot sausage and the sweet sauce.
For this reason the sausage is cooked separately from the sauce to limit
the blending of the hot and sweet flavors. It is preferable to use all red
bell peppers as they add sweetness to the sauce, however sometimes red bell
peppers are prohibitively expensive and then I usually use one red and one
green. Chopped fresh tomatoes can be used in place of the canned if the
are good'n ripe. If the sausage is too hot, half hot and half mild sausage
can be used. The sauce is sweetened by the basil and the red peppers, the
sugar is to enhance the flavor of the tomatoes. To sweeten the sauce add
additional basil, not sugar.

Jake 7/94