Sausage and Peppers Linguine

Finally… a recipe

I told you that I dreamed of this pasta recipe a week or two ago. I’m not sure if it is odd to dream up recipes but it sure does happen to me from time to time. Remember the Dark Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake from last month? I dreamed about chocolate and strawberries and woke up with the recipe rattling around in my head!

This time I dreamed that I was in my new kitchen and a friend (who does not cook) was standing over my shoulder telling me what to do! (Like that would be OK with me… NOT!) Anyway, he kept telling me what to add and I, oddly and against character, did what this non-cooking dude said. When I woke up I realized that he was giving me ingredients that my Nanny used often. And… it sounded delicious. I couldn’t wait to give it a try so as soon as I unpacked my kitchen and found my pots and pans I whipped this up. It WAS delicious! And, my new kitchen smelled just like Nanny’s! Ahhhh…. home

I hope you enjoy my dreamed up linguine!

Sausage and Peppers Linguine

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds Italian sausage links cut into diagonal slices (about 8-10 links) (use sweet, mild, hot or a combination)
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and cut in half, then cut into thin half circles
• 1 green pepper,
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 orange pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound sliced mushrooms
• 1/4 teaspoon (or to taste) red pepper flakes
• 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• dash of cinnamon
• 1 pound linguine
• 1 head escarole, rough chopped
• grated Parmesan cheese for serving
• fresh basil for garnish (optional)

Place a large, heavy skillet over medium to medium-high heat and coat with olive oil. When pan is hot, add a layer of sausage slices but do not crowd the pan. When sausage is brown and crispy on one side, turn over and brown the other side. (You do not have to cook them through, just brown them.) Remove browned sausage to a large dutch oven and then brown the next batch. Repeat until all of the sausage slices are browned.

Add onions to the drippings in the pan and stir to coat. As soon as they are soft, add the peppers, garlic, mushrooms and red pepper flakes. Saute for 3 minutes, stirring often and then add to dutch oven with sausage.

Switch pans, removing the skillet from the heat and placing the dutch oven over the heat. Add the crushed tomatoes, basil, oregano and cinnamon and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat and cover. Let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Bring pasta water to a boil when the sauce has simmered for about 15 minutes. Boil pasta as directed on the box. Two minutes before it is done, add the escarole. Continue to boil for 1 minute and then drain. (This will be one minute short of the recommended cooking time on the box.)

Add the drained pasta and escarole mixture to the dutch oven and stir to coat with the sauce. Remove dutch oven from the heat and cover. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes so the pasta will absorb some of the sauce and cook completely.

Serve with Parmesan cheese and garnish with fresh basil if desired.

This should serve 8-10 people with leftovers. Unless they are all big football playing burly dudes. Then it will feed 4-6

Sweetest Blessings,
LeAnn