Grilled Sausage and Peppers

There is just something about sausage and peppers. Served with a hunk of crusty Italian bread, it’s a quintessential comfort food for most Italian Americans.

As part of our Pork CSA this year we received some fantastic sausages – just the right ratio of fat to meat. We knew we just had to pair them with what’s probably the last of our farmers’ market peppers and tomatoes.

Instead of doing it on the stove top or in the oven, we decided to use the grill. At the end of the summer season we bought one of those grill baskets and figured this was a great meal for it’s inauguration. Our technique probably could use some improvement, but still, the meal was good enough to deem “blog-worthy.” The smokiness of the charcoal grill added a nice dimension.

Ingredients

• 5 pork sausages
• 8 Marconi peppers, sliced and seeded
• 4 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1/2 yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, minced
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 
• salt and pepper, to taste
• crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1. Preheat the grill to medium high heat.
2. Place the sausages on the grill and cook until browned and cooked all the way through.
3. Remove them from the grill and slice. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl add the sliced peppers, chopped onion and the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Pour into the grill basket and pale on the grill. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes.
6. Toss in the diced tomatoes and sliced sausage. Add more olive oil if things look dry or stick to the basket.
7. Continue to cook until the peppers are softened and the tomatoes nearly disintegrated.
8. Pour everything out onto a large platter, sprinkle with fresh oregano, drizzle on the extra virgin olive oil and, if you like, sprinkle on some crushed red pepper flakes.
9. Serve immediately.