Garlic, as in Portuguese-style garlic sausage (Linguiça), fresh garlic added with the peppers and onion, and then additional garlic included with the roasted tomatoes added at the end.
Our local market stocks their version of my very favorite type of sausage infrequently, so when they do have Linguiça in stock (and, bonus! on sale), I load up my cart.
Which sometimes leads to me finding an older package at the bottom of teh freezer…
so I guess it would be sausages for dinner, but sausages how? I wasn’t feeling the love for beer-braised, then grilled (tho’ I do love ’em that way).
A quick search on da Google took me to a recipe by Jeff Nathan on epicurious.com that would more than do for a start; but I’d need to make a few changes…
INGREDIENTS
•Olive oil
•1-1/2 lb linguiça (Portuguese garlic sausage), sliced
•1 large sweet onion, diced
•1/2 large red pepper, diced
•1/2 large green pepper, diced
•3 cloves garlic, minced
•1/4 cup Amontillado (sherry)
•2 cups besterer! roasted tomatoes
•Salt, black and Aleppo pepper, to taste
•1 tsp sugar (optional)
•8 oz pappardelle, cooked and drained
Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a large skillet (I used my tagine) over medium-high heat.
Add the sliced sausage and cook, flipping as needed, until browned – six to ten minutes.
Add the onion, green and red pepper, and the garlic and sauté until the veggies are tender – mebbe another ten minutes.
Add the sherry, to deglaze the pan – and to scrape up any of those tasty crispity bits stuck to the bottom of the pan – then salt, black pepper and Aleppo pepper to taste. I used a blend of one tablespoon Sichuan Peppercorns lightly crushed with one teaspoon of Maldon sea salt – less one teaspoon used in the chicken wings the day before, and one teaspoon of the Aleppo.
Simmer until most of the liquid has been cooked off, then stir in the tomatoes, basil, and oregano and cook just until heated through.
Give it a taste and, if you think it needs it (I did) stir in that one teaspoon of sugar and cook, stirring, for mebbe five more minutes.
We had ours with cooked pappardelle, but egg noodles, or bow ties, or even rice would all work nicely with this mixture.
If you’re feeling especially adventuresome, you might could try it over buttermilk smashed potatoes – which, of course, have a nice bit of garlic in them as well, so there is that whole synergy thing.
It’s all good, all ready in under an hour, and, for once, it’s a recipe from me that doesn’t need an overnight rest or a rise or a marinade – so there’s an added bonus.
If you can’t find linguiça, substitute your own fave sausage (Mr. Nathan used turkey), and a half dozen diced fresh plum tomatoes can always be subbed for the roasted, but, seriously, make the roasted, your mouth will thank you.
Oh, and however you make it, a nice nob of fresh mozz and a drizzle of really good balsamic vinegar make for fine finishing touches.