Healthy Sausage & Peppers

Healthy Sausage & Peppers

This recipe is an easy way to ease into the fall.  Make use of the last of the summer produce as we head into the fall season.  With a substitution of Turkey Sausage, hot or sweet, you can create a wonderful dinner the whole family will love.  This is an easy recipe with just a few ingredients that can easily be adapted to what you have at hand.  Use the recipe as a guide.  I am going to show this recipe with a side of Mediterranean couscous, steamed veggie tossed with a little seasoned butter and a squirt of lemon.  Now, you could easily just toss the sausage and peppers with pasta, and top with grated, and or shaved Italian cheese.

Ingredients

1 lb of Turkey Sausage, Sweet or Hot

1-2 Vidalia onions, depending on size, sliced in half; then in half moon slices

4  Bell Peppers, mixed colors, deseed and slice in 1/2 inch slices lengthwise

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 ears or 1 cup of corn, optional, 

16- 28 oz of crushed Tomatoes 

4 Bay Leaves

1/2 cup of dry white or red wine

2 Tbsp of olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Optional:  Shaved Parmesan

Brown sausage in Tbsp of olive oil with medium high heat.  While the sausage is browning slice the vegetables. If using ears of corn, remove the corn from the cob.

After five minutes turn sausage to brown the opposite side.  Once second side is finished, remove sausage.  Add wine and turn up your heat to deglaze pan.  After the wine reduces to 1/4 cup add your vegetables to the pan with the bay leaves, adding additional olive oil if necessary.  Turn down your heat to medium and saute for 10-12 minutes.  

Add corn, and garlic to pan and saute for one minute.  Now, add crushed tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, and simmer for 15 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering slice the sausage on the bias in 1/2 inch slices.  After 15 minutes add the sliced sausage.  Simmer for another 10 minutes.

Browning of Turkey Sausages

Deglazing. . .

Vegetable Saute. . .

Bring Vegetables with Tomato Sauce to a Boil.  Simmer for twenty minutes.

Now for the sausage, and an additional 10 minute simmer. . . 

Couscous

(for six)

1 1/2 cup of couscous

1 cup of low sodium natural chicken broth

1/2 cup of water

1/2 teaspoon of Saffron threads or two pinches

 1/2 teaspoon of fine sea salt

few bay leaves

1 Tbsp of unsalted butter diced

few grinds of black pepper

2 garlic cloves, sliced in quarters

drizzle of honey

2 Tbsp of lemon juice

1/2 cup of grated Parmesan

Bring water, chicken stock, saffron to a boil.  While waiting, place couscous, diced butter, salt, pepper, bay leaves and quartered garlic in a medium bowl.  Place boiling liquid in the bowl with the couscous and cover with saran wrap for at least five minutes.  When all the water is absorbed, uncover and fluff with a fork.  Remove the bay leaves, and garlic if possible.  Drizzle with honey, add 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan and 2 Tbsp of lemon juice to couscous.  Fluff again, and taste for seasoning.