Pasta with Sausage and Peppers
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| Breaking camp last Saturday at Lake Ste Kathryn. |
The other night I had to re-pack all my tents and tarps after drying them out. They were all wet when I packed up my camp on Saturday and headed home. On Sunday, it drizzled all day so I couldn't dry them out. Finally, on Monday, I was able to dry everything. One of my housemates helped me do the repack.
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| Taking down the wet tent. |
After I had everything stowed away, I pulled out some Italian sausage and a bunch of bell peppers for dinner. I decided to keep it simple. I wasn't sure how many we'd have for dinner and sausage and peppers will be easy enough.
Sometimes the simplest things are the most satisfying. Sausage and peppers with a little pasta on the side, what could be simpler? It may be simple, but it makes a tasty little lunch or dinner. I know this from experience.
Whenever I’m in an Italian restaurant, there are so many choices to choose from, it is hard to decide. Even with the wealth of options, sometimes I just order sausage and peppers with some pasta.
I remember when I was in college, during the summers I would work construction for my dad. I recall that whenever we worked on the South Side of Chicago, their were two restaurants he’d often take us to for lunch. One was on 95th street and the other was at 79th and Kedzie. I don't know, they may be long gone by now. I recall that they both served this dish back in the late 1970‘s. I don’t think it was on the menu. If you asked for it, they'd make it for you.
Both these restaurants were quite popular and very busy at lunch time. I remember shaking Rich Daley’s hand one day as he walked through greeting people eating at the bar. He wasn’t Mayor yet, just State’s Attorney. As I recall, this is what I was eating that day when he came over.
Serve me some of this with a good crusty bread, a salad and a nice bottle of wine and I’m as happy as can be. Not only is it tasty, it is almost fool proof to make. Go ahead, give it a try.
For the sausage:
Olive oil
2 lb. good Italian sausage, cut
into two inch lengths
2 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
3 large bell peppers, cut into one inch strips
1/2 cup of fresh grated Parmesan cheese
For the pasta:
1 cup extra good olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, smashed
red pepper flakes
1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb. linguine, cooked al dente
1/2 cup of reserved pasta water
Salt
Preparing the sausage
Heat a large cast iron skillet until it is very hot. Add enough olive oil to coat the pan and then add the sausage. Cook the sausage, stirring often. You want the sausage to be nicely browned and no longer pink in the center. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two. Remove the sausage to a bowl.
Add the bell peppers to the hot skillet. Cook, stirring often for about five minutes. Return the sausage to the skillet. Stir for a few minutes. Remove the sausage and peppers to a serving bowl and toss with the Parmesan cheese. Keep warm while you prepare the pasta.
Preparing the pasta
Cook the linguini in rapidly boiling salted water. While it is cooking, heat a sauce pan. Add about a cup of very good olive oil. When it is hot, add the smashed garlic cloves and some red pepper flakes. Watch the pan carefully as the garlic is cooking. As soon as the garlic starts to turn golden, remove it from the oil and turn off the heat. Don’t let the garlic get brown.
When the pasta is cooked al dente, remove and save 1/2 cup of the water. Drain the pasta and place it in a large, shallow serving bowl. Add the sauce pan of olive oil along with the Parmesan cheese and one half cup of the water you cooked the pasta in. Toss to coat the linguini evenly with the oil and cheese.
Serving
This is served very simply. Fill half of the plate with sausage and peppers. Fill the other half with the linguini. Sprinkle a little extra Parmesan cheese over both. A crisp tossed salad and some garlic bread will round out this meal nicely. Open a bottle of Chianti and your lunch is ready. With a lunch like this, you may not want to go back to work, but it is so good, who cares!
Thanks
I want to thank williamt for his kind words and for mentioning my little blog. If you haven't already, check out his blog:
He always has something interesting to say and you'll get great recommendations on books, movies and blogs.
Thanks, Comrade!
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