Thursday, February 23, 2012

Sausage and Sweet Peppers Fettuccine

Here we go with some real cooking.  You know what I mean, straight up kitchen improvisation that starts like this:  Ok, I have 3 Italian sausages leftover from earlier this week- they gotta get used up by tonight.  Ok, alright, so we are starting with that.  Ummmm...  Yes, same thing with those two peppers in the crisper, but I don't want there to be too many peppers in it, so I will only use half of each since I want the red and the green.  And, yeah, I'll just slice them all up finely and  freeze the other two halves for fajitas next week.  (Mental note here to buy skirt steak-check).  Ok.  Oh, good good, I have an opened container of chicken stock and a Pinot Grigio that is opened.  So we are gonna go without a red sauce then.  Nice.  Good.  Feels fresher to me that way.  Alright, alright, alright.  Fresh garlic, check.  Please do we have the right pasta in the pantry......yep sure do.  Fettuccine it is then.  Oh, sweet, I still have a couple nice sized bricks of cheese that I can grate up for it......and so it is then.  Pasta with sausage and peppers. Ooh bonus, I have french bread to bake as well.  And there it is, dinner from scraps.

2 T. of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 of a large red sweet pepper (thinly sliced)
1/2 of a large green sweet pepper (thinly sliced)
sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
2 garlic cloves (minced)
3 Italian sausages (boiled for 15 minutes, cooled, thinly sliced on an angle)
1/4 cup of white wine (cook with what you would drink, I used a slightly sweet Pinot Grigio)
1/2 cup of chicken stock
1/4 cup of freshly grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb. of uncooked fettuccine pasta

-Start a large stockpot of water for a boil.  Heat up the e.v.o. in a large deep saucepan over medium heat; add in the sweet peppers and a light amount of salt and pepper.  Saute peppers for about 3-4 minutes, then add in the garlic and saute about 30 more seconds.  Go ahead and toss in your pre-boiled and sliced Italian sausage and saute a few more minutes until everyone in the pan looks good and done.  Pour in the wine and using a wooden spoon, scrape up all the good stuff from the bottom of the pan (this is called de-glazing); pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, for the pasta, once your large stockpot reaches a rapid boil, stir in a bit of sea salt and 1 T. of e.v.o. (this helps to flavor the pasta and keep it from clumping together).  Then add in the pasta, boil for 12 minutes for au dente.  Strain pasta and fold it directly into your sauce pan along with the cheese's.  Serves 4-6.  Enjoy!

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