Easy Italian Sausage

Nancy Jo's Note:

This is a variation of Cousin Frank's Family Heirloom Polish Sausage that I came up with when my daughter saw an article about tree-trimming parties in BH & G and insisted we had to have one. (Don't ask ME why a four-year-old was looking at BH & G!) It's been a family favorite ever since. My husband really liked it with pasta, but when the kids were all here, I had to hide some in order to have any leftovers.

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 lb Italian sausage
• 1 (1 ounce) can tomato sauce (plain or flavored) or 1 can pizza sauce or 1 can pasta sauce
• 2 green peppers
• garlic salt
• italian seasoning
• shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Put sausage in a pan and cover with cold water.
2. Bring to a boil and simmer until no longer pink inside.
3. While the sausage is cooking, seed the peppers and cut into one-inch chunks.
4. Open the tomato sauce and stir in garlic and seasoning.
5. (If you are using pizza or pasta sauce or a flavored tomato sauce, omit the garlic and seasoning.) Add the peppers to the sausage for a few minutes, just long enough to soften them.
6. Drain.
7. Remove casing from sausages and cut into bite-sized pieces.
8. Place sausage and peppers in oven-proof dish and pour sauce over.
9. Bake in 350 degree oven about 30 minutes.
10. If desired, sprinkle with mozzarella and return to oven until cheese is melted.
11. Can be serves as an appetizer.
12. Or over pasta.

Reviews

[cmr1120]

It was kind of odd that this recipe didn't have specific measurements for its ingredients, but I thought I'd give it a try. I did not know of 1 ounce cans of tomato sauce, so I used an 8 oz can and just used my judgment with the garlic salt and Italian seasoning. I also added pizza and pasta seasoning to the sauce. Despite all of that, there really wasn't much of a rich flavor to the dish like I was looking for. It still was good and I used it on top of pasta that I did up with garlic, olive oil, spices, and cheese.