Sausage and Peppers Non-Italian Style

My grandfather was Sicilian, and I LOVE Italian food. You might have seen my recent post from Cefalu, Sicily where I cooked a meal in a convent by the sea. Having everything on hand EXCEPT Italian sausage posed a problem when I had a craving for sausage and peppers: go out and buy some or adapt and use the sausage I already had. This sausage came from a French Country Recipe and had tarragon, shallots, nutmeg, ginger and cloves, hardly an Italian recipe. So what did I do? I got excited! Here's the recipe for a comfort food sort of mood:

ON THE CUTTING BOARD:



Sausage, parmigiano reggiano cheese, 1 small onion, 3/4 green pepper, 6 cloves of garlic, anchovies, sun dried tomatoes, 1/2 can of San Marzano whole tomatoes (in the jar in photo), basil, oregano, salt, pasta (bowtie, penne, rigatoni, ziti, paccheri)

STEP ONE:







Start a large pot of water for the pasta. Slice the green pepper into strips. Heat 1 T. of olive oil in a large skillet and add an anchovy when the oil is hot. When the anchovy "melts" into the oil, add the green pepper and cook for a few minutes. Cut the onion into rings, slice three sun dried tomatoes into thick strips and mince the garlic. Add to the green peppers and cook for a few more minutes until the onions start to soften and brown.
Add 1/2 tsp. basil, 1/2 tsp. oregano and 1/2 tsp. salt.

STEP TWO:






Cook the sausage in a separate pan to extract much of the grease and then add to the onion and pepper mixture.  Cook the pasta for 7 minutes and drain when finished.

STEP THREE:









Add the tomatoes with sauce to the skillet and mash them. Cook the sauce for another 5 minutes until cooked through. Place a layer of pasta on the bottom of a baking dish and spoon some of the sauce on top followed by a grating of the cheese. Continue layering the pasta, sauce and cheese until you've used almost all of the pasta. Use the rest to make a design on top if desired.

STEP FOUR:



Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes then turn it up to 450 for the last few minutes to give the top pieces of pasta a little crunch. Garnish with basil (I still have some in the garden) and serve.

ALLA VOSTRA SALUTE!

Chicken Curry Stir Fry

With chicken breast for protein and a bunch of vegetables needing attention, this dish was a cinch!  Having lots of pastes and sauces on hand helps.  You can use any vegetables you have available. If you don't have dill, you can use parsley or cilantro.

ON THE CUTTING BOARD:



Four small chicken breasts, half a head of a small cabbage, one fingerling potato, bunch of kale, half an onion, three garlic cloves, 1/2 inch piece of ginger, a few threads of fresh thyme, parsley, dill, asparagus, red chilies, two stalks of celery, olive oil, fish sauce, black vinegar, dark soy sauce, Thai green chili paste.

STEP ONE:









Heat 2 tsp. of olive oil in a wok (or large, deep pan) and add 1 tsp. of green curry paste or to taste. Stir frequently for one minute and turn the heat to very low. Roughly chop the onion, garlic, ginger and about a quarter cup of dill and throw into a NutriBullet or similar blender with 1/4 tsp. of kosher or sea salt and 3 T. of water.
You will have a thick green sauce.

STEP TWO:





Add the green sauce to the pan, allowing it to simmer for about a minute. Add the chicken breasts (cut into large cubes) and a handful of dried red chilies. Stir over medium heat and cook for four minutes or so.

STEP THREE:





Add the celery, cabbage and thinly sliced fingerling potato. Pour 1 T. of fish oil, 2 tsp. dark soy sauce and 2 tsp. black vinegar into the wok and stir over medium heat until cabbage wilts and celery softens. Add the fresh herbs. Can add some turmeric if you have it for color, flavor and its anti-inflamatory properties (good for the brain too!).

STEP FOUR:








Add asparagus to wok and cook for a couple of minutes and then add the kale. Cook for a couple of minutes until the kale begins to wilt. Adjust seasonings if needed, turn off heat and serve.

ENJOY!



I served this dish with Persian rice which will be the subject of another post.

ALLA VOSTRA SALUTE!