Fabio Viviani is a hoot. We watched him through two seasons on Bravo’s “Top Chef” where he did not win the cooking competition but he certainly won the personality contest.
Who can ever forget some of the Italian accented one-liners that came out of the mouth of this joyful character? One of my favorites is his pronunciation of the “hamburger” as “hambooger” or talking about chopping the “shicken with a claver”.
I don’t let a week go by without taking in his online show on “Yahoo”. These weekly videos are about 6 minutes long and feature Fabio cooking an Italian recipe and having some fun—he’s even had his Mother on the show. His 6 minute “shows” are more entertaining than most 30 or 60 minute cooking shows.
This week, Fabio did a super simple dish that I couldn’t resist trying and simplifying. Fabio calls it simply “Sausages and Peppers” and I call it “Sausages Peppers a la Fabio”. I changed a couple of things a bit using yellow peppers rather than green (that’s a matter of taste as well as what’s on special this week) and rather than making a Bolognese sauce from scratch or buying an over-priced, over-sweet jarred sauce I pulled out a can of chopped tomatoes from the pantry, dumped some herbs and spices in it, used a bit of cornstarch slurry and it worked wonderfully and much less expensively.
So here’s my version of “Sausages and Peppers a la Fabio”. You will love each bite of sausage coated with sauce and flavored with sweet bell pepper. My mouth is watering all over again just thinking about it.
Recipe: Sausages and Peppers a la Fabio
Summary: This hearty meal of Italian sausages sauteed with bell peppers and onions in a tomato sauce it easy and terrific.
Ingredients
- 6 Italian sausages—hot or sweet, it’s up to you
- 1 Bell Pepper—red, yellow or orange
- 1 Jalapeno pepper
- 1 White or Yellow onion—baseball size
- 1 16 oz can whole, sliced or chopped roma tomatoes
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- Salt, pepper, cumin, dried basil
Instructions
- Take out a large skillet, cutting board and chef’s knife.
- Prep the sausage by piercing the skin about 3 times on 2 sides. (So the casing won’t split and so a some of the fats can drain for flavoring)
- Chop the onion into strips about 2” x ¼”.Chop the bell pepper into similar sized pieces and the jalapeno into about 1” x ¼” pieces.
- Put the skillet on the stove on a medium heat. Put a couple of squirts or glugs of oil in the pan and add the sausage. Turn when it starts to brown on each side. When browned lightly, remove to a paper towel covered plate.
- Reduce heat to medium/medium low and add the onions. You want to caramelize them and it will take about 15 minutes—this has to be done fairly slowly.
- Add the bell pepper, jalapeno and garlic. Cook for about 6-8 minutes. Add some salt and pepper.
- Add the can of tomatoes and then add the cumin. Let it heat for a minute or so and then add the sausages back into the sauce.
- Check the seasoning and add more if needed. Add several good shakes of the basil—about a tablespoon worth.
- If you want a bit of “heat” add some cayenne or chipotle. Taste again. Remember, you can always add more seasonings or spice but once it’s in, you can’t take it out.
- Remove from heat. Cut each sausage in half. Serve 1 ½ sausage per plate and smother with the onion/pepper/tomato sauce.
- Serve with some crusty French or Italian bread for sopping or to put bites of meat, peppers and sauce on it.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Cooking time: 30 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 4
Culinary tradition: Italian
My rating 5 stars: ★★★★★ 1 review(s)
This Italian Sausages and Peppers recipe is really tasty and filling. It’s aromatic, there’s still a bit of “tooth” or crunch in the peppers. The onions are sweet and tasty. Everything ties together into a fabulous meal that’s simple to cook yet tastes like you spent hours on it.
The Cheap Bastid Test: For 4 people you use 6 sausages which cost about $4.20. The bell pepper was $.77, the jalapeno was $.10 and the can of tomatoes was $1.25. Total for this meal for 4 was $6.32 or $1.58 per serving. If you went to a restaurant for this it would cost about $10 per person. Add a salad and French or Italian bread and you’ve got a feast.
That’s the Cheap Bastid Way: Eat Good. Eat Cheap. Be Grateful!
Wow, that looks delicious!!
Thank you Kristen. Give it a try, the flavor is terrific. We just heaped it on a plate and had some French bread rolls for “sopping”. Another option if you want a bit more of a “finished plate” would be to make some yellow grits (I call it grits, some call it polenta) which will provide a contrasting flavor to the sausage and tomato sauce.