http://www.italian-cooking-made-easy.com/SausageandPeppers.html
Sausage and Peppers
Here is a great way to cook your Italian sausage. The vegetables make it a meal. Serve with a fresh salad and some crusty Italian bread to soak up the juices.
Ingredients:
# 6 tbsp olive oil
# 1 ½ lbs sweet Italian sausage links
# 2 green bell peppers, thickly sliced and cut to bite site pieces
# 1 onion, sliced
# 4 garlic cloves, chopped
# Salt & freshly ground pepper
# ½ tsp dried oregano
# 1 can 14 ½ oz Italian-style diced tomatoes, save juice
# red pepper flakes
In a large skillet, combine 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, the sausage links, and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover, simmer until sausage is cooked through – about 7 minutes.
Remove the sausages from the pan and cut into bite-sized pieces. Pour off any extra liquid and return the sausage to the skillet.
Turn up the heat to medium-high and add the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet with the sausages. Add the bell pepper and the onions and sauté until the sausages and vegetables are nicely browned, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for another 1-2 minutes until the garlic is tender.
Season with salt & pepper to taste. Add the oregano, tomatoes, and sprinkle in some red pepper flakes – depending upon how hot you want to make your sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer covered for 10 minutes, then simmer for a couple of minutes more uncovered until the tomatoes reduce to a slightly thick sauce.
Serve immediately.
If you liked Sausage and Peppers, try these other meat recipes.
http://www.italian-cooking-made-easy.com/Seafood-Sausage.html
Seafood Sausage
Sausage doesn’t have to just mean pork. Seafood sausage is an interesting twist to the usual Italian sausage we all know. Here is a simple recipe for making sausage from shrimp or other shellfish if you prefer.
Ingredients:
# 2 lbs raw shrimp, fresh or thawed if bought frozen
# 1 red bell pepper
# 3 cloves garlic
# 1 small sweet onion or shallot
# ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
# 3 eggs beaten
# 1 tablespoon flour
# pinch of sea or kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
You can easily thaw frozen shrimp but placing them in a bowl of cool water. After a few minutes, pour off the water and fill up the bowl again with cool water. The shrimp will thaw in about ten minutes or so.
Peel the shells from the raw shrimp and grind. Once ground, keep the seafood chilled. Finely chop the red bell pepper and mince the garlic and onion or shallot. Finely chop the parsley and mix all ingredients in with the chilled, ground shellfish. Form sausage patties or stuff into casings.
http://www.italian-cooking-made-easy.com/Chicken-Sausage.html
Chicken Sausage
Sausage from chicken makes a lighter sausage yet still has a nice flavor. I like to use my fresh herbs from the garden to make this sausage delicious.
Ingredients:
# 2 lbs chicken meat
# ¼ lb pork fat
# 3 cloves garlic
# 1 small sweet onion
# ¼ cup chopped fresh oregano
# Freshly ground pepper
# Sea or kosher salt
Grind the chilled chicken and fat separately and keep chilled in refrigerator after grinding.
Mince the garlic and chop the oregano. Add with the other ingredients to the chilled chicken and fat. Blend with an electric mixer just until blended. You do not want to over mix the meat and fat. You can form sausage patties or stuff into casings.
To test the flavor of your sausage, take a tablespoon of the sausage mixture and cook it in a small skillet. When browned, taste to see if you want to adjust any seasoning.
http://www.italian-cooking-made-easy.com/Mild-Italian-Sausage.html
Mild Italian Sausage
This sausage is easy to make with an electric meatgrinder and it is delicious. I usually make this sausage in bulk. as it makes quite a bit of sausage, then freeze some of it for easy meal prepping later. You can buy casings and make your own links if you prefer.
Ingredients:
# 2 ½ lbs pork
# ½ lb pork fat
# 6 cloves garlic
# ¼ cup fennel seeds
# 2 tablespoons dried oregano
# freshly ground pepper
# sea or kosher salt
Chill the pork and fat in your refrigerator before grinding. You want to make sure your ingredients are cold because the grinding will heat the pork and fat, and you don’t want them to melt while grinding. While they are chilling, mince the garlic and measure your other ingredients.
Grind the chilled pork and fat separately.
Add the garlic and the other ingredients to the chilled pork and fat. Blend with an electric mixer just until blended. You do not want to over mix the meat and fat. You can form sausage patties or stuff into casings.
To test the flavor of your sausage, take a tablespoon of the sausage mixture and cook it in a small skillet. When browned, taste to see if you want to adjust any seasoning.
http://www.italian-cooking-made-easy.com/HomemadeItalianSausage.html
Easy Homemade Italian Sausage
This Easy Homemade Italian Sausage recipe is great for those who don’t have a meat grinder. You can find pork already ground with fat that is perfect for making sausage. The disadvantage is you cannot control the amount of fat or the quality of the pork, but it is a tremendous timesaver over grinding your own meat and you can still determine the other ingredients and flavor your sausage anyway you like.
Ingredients:
# 1 lb ground pork
# 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
# 1 tablespoon oregano
# 1 tablespoon thyme
# 3 cloves garlic minced
# ¼ teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Directions:
Keep the pork refrigerator until you are ready to make your sausage. It is much easier to work with when it is cold.
Dump the pork into a large mixing bowl. Add the other ingredients and mix with an electric mixer just until blended. You do not want over mix the sausage.
To test the flavor of your sausage, take a tablespoon of the sausage mixture and cook it in a small skillet. When browned, taste to see if you want to adjust any seasoning.
>>>Easy Apple Butter Recipe and 2 More Delicious Crockpot Recipes
By Lucille Green Platinum Quality Author
Preparing delicious and long lasting meals is easy when using a Crockpot. Apple butter, apple coconut crisp and apple cranberry compote recipes are 3 great Crockpot recipes. Here are the 3 recipes for you to prepare at home:
1. Apple Butter
This can be made in a slow cooker/Crock Pot or oven at 325 degrees for 3-4 hours.
Ingredients:
- 4 qts. unsweetened applesauce
- 7 C. granulated sugar
- 1-1/3 C. brown sugar
- 5-1/3 T. cider vinegar
- 5-1/3 T. lemon juice
- 2 teaspoon. cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon. allspice
- 1 teaspoon. ground cloves
Directions:
- Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker/Crock Pot or roasting pan.
- Cover and cook 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Remove lid and continue cooking until excess liquid cooks away (turn to low as necessary) Slow Cooker 5-8 hours, oven 3-5 hours Seal mixture in hot jars and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.
Makes approximately 8-10 pints<<<
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This really works well - I made a batch of apple butter this last fall this way only plan on more than 3 hours for a nice thick apple butter - I ran mine for 24 hours so it would be nice and thick. (Oh, and every 2 or 3 hours, as the volume would reduce, I added more applesauce - Worked Great! No long hours of stirring and no burnt bottom... My batch yielded 12 pints (1 case).
Yum... will be making more this year.