Italian veggie sausage and peppers

A few days ago, I perused the ingredients I had on hand and decided to make this Italian-style veggie sausage and pepper dish. I’ve made a similar dish before, but this was the first time I’d a) used homemade instead of bought veggie sausages and b) written down the ingredients.

I used spicy homemade sausages that I had in the freezer. I haven’t yet posted my veggie sausage recipe, but it’s similar to my hot dog recipe, with different spices and a bit more gluten to make them firmer. Seems most everyone in vegan blogland has their own version of sausages anyway, so I’ll leave that part to you!

I usually peel peppers if they are the thick-walled type, but it’s optional.

This is a really delicious dish, and very easy if the sausages are already made (or you use bought ones).

Italian veggie sausage and peppers

1. In a heavy skillet, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium heat. Saute sausages for 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from skillet, allow to cool and slice into 12mm (1/2″) thick slices.

2. Put remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil in the skillet and saute onion for 5 minutes, until softened. Add pepper and continue to saute until vegetables are soft, about another 5 minutes (covering the pan will speed up the softening). Then add garlic and saute for two more minutes.

3. Add halved cherry tomatoes and continue to cook until tomatoes are softened and starting to collapse. At this point, you can remove the tomato skins if you like (they’ll slip right off). Add passata (tomato sauce) and bring to a gentle simmer.

4. Add reserved sausage back into skillet along with basil, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes to blend flavours.

Makes two servings.

Nice served with crusty bread to mop up the juices (and the ubiquitous salad, of course).