Don’t let the pretty photos fool you, cooking around here ain’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook…but only on Saturday and Sunday. You see Monday to Friday, is occupied by everything other than cooking: breakfast on the run, walking the dog, subway riding, healthcare providing. By the time that’s all done, it’s time to head home, walk the dog again and before I know it, all I wanna do is eat some dinner and relax on the couch. Buuuut, I don’t actually want to have to make the dinner. Unfortunately, despite my daily ritual of closing my eyes and willing dinner to appear on a beautifully set table with matching linen napkins and candlelight, the reality is if we’re gonna eat, I gotta make it.
What I love most about cooking is how relaxing it is. I find cutting vegetables almost meditative. Creating a composed meal out of raw ingredients gives me satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment. But let’s get real, cooking is also messy and time consuming. Cut this, sprinkle that, wash the chicken juice off the counter before someone gets Salmonella etc. etc. etc.
To conserve my energy, I usually try to batch cook on the weekends so that weekday meals are just a matter of reheating and making a salad. But sometimes that’s just not possible. When faced with the option of cooking a quick, nutritious, no added crap dinner or… starving, I think the choice is obvious. I’m always on the hunt for quick weekday meals and that’s what I’ve got for you today. This recipe actually cooks up from start to finish in 30 minutes or less. Don’t believe it, grab a stopwatch, I’ll prove it to you.
| Quick Sausage & Peppers | Print |
- 4 Italian sausages
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 red pepper
- 1 green pepper
- 1 cup cremini mushrooms
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp dried marjoram
- Red pepper flakes to taste
- ½ cup-1cup jarred, pureed tomatoes (passata)
- Salt and Pepper
- Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in large cast iron pan on medium-high heat.
- Add Italian sausages and saute until brown on all sides, approximately 5 minutes per side. This should take about 15 minutes.
- While sausages are browning, cut peppers and onions into thin strips. Slice mushrooms thinly. Peel garlic cloves and keep them whole. Measure out the spices you are using.
- Once sausages are browned on all sides, remove them from the pan and set aside.
- Add the other 1 tbsp of olive oil to the warm pan if needed. The pan should have some delicious fat and brown bits from the sausages. Add peppers, onion, mushrooms and garlic to pan. Saute until soft, approximately 3 minutes.
- While sauteing, slice the sausages thickly.
- Once the veggies are soft, add the spices to the pan and stir to combine. Then add sliced sausages and stir.
- Season with salt and pepper and add pureed tomatoes, a half cup at a time to see how much liquid is needed.
- Simmer for 8-10 minutes.
- If it's not saucy enough then add another half cup of strained tomatoes. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed.
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