Do you ever look in your refrigerator and wonder what can I make with what is in here? That happens all the time I feel like at my house. I do most of the cooking, but honestly I don't mind because I love cooking - both recipes I know I love but new ones that I just make up on the fly. This is one of those made-up on the fly recipes!
3 things drove this dinner recipe - 4 hotdog buns leftover from hotdogs on Saturday night and 7 sausage links with about 2/3 of a jar of marinara sauce left over from homemade pizza Sunday night.
I came home for lunch on Monday and looking in the fridge was trying to figure out what to make for dinner that night. A Sausage and peppers sub sounded great but on a small hotdog bun? Then it hit me - stuffed! I knew I had red and sweet onions, some mushrooms leftover from the pizza and dang it my peppers had gone bad. I got back to work and emailed the hubby who gets out before me to pick up a red and green bell pepper, parsley and an Italian cheese shredded blend.
Here it is
- Sausage, Peppers & Onions Stuffed Buns
Total Time:
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40-50 minutes
Feeds: 4-6 people
Ingredients:
7 Sausage Links - I used both mild and sweet but whatever you have on hand will work
4-8 hoggie buns or hotdog buns (hoggie buns are better!)
1 Green Bell Pepper, sliced
1 Red Bell Pepper, sliced
1/2 Sweet Onion, sliced
1/2 Red Onion, sliced
1 cup Mushrooms, sliced
1 -2 tbsp Garlic, minced
1 - 2 cups Shredded Italian Blend Cheese (I prefer the low-fat version)
15-20 oz Pasta Red Sauce (I had about 2/3 left of a 24oz jar of marinara sauce in the fridge)
1/2 cup Red Wine (can use chicken broth/stock instead)
Fresh Parsley
Dried Oregano
Dried Basil
Dried Thyme
Garlic Salt
Onion Powder
Cayenne Powder
Ground Black Pepper
*** NOTE: the nice thing about this recipe is you can add more of or make less of something if you prefer, like less meat and more veggies.
Directions:
1.) Prepare all veggies - onions, peppers, mushrooms, garlic and parsley.
*** TIP: Chopping parsley easily like a pro! Break off a handful or whatever amount you need and put into a small bowl. Take a pair of scissors and using backwards (blades down instead of out) cut up parsley until desired rough or find chop.
2.) Remove casings from sausage links and roughly chop the sausage.
***TIP: To remove sausage casing use a knife and make a shallow slice down the link. Then using your fingers peel away the casing.
3.) Heat up a small amount of olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. I used a cast iron skillet but a non-stick 12" pan would work just as well.
*** TIP: If you use a cast iron skillet make sure you clean it right away once your finished. Use only water and a soft brush to remove food. Do Not use soap! Immediately dry with paper towels to avoid rusting.
4.) Add the sausage to the pan to begin browning. Move it around a lot to break it up and give it an even browning.
5.) After about 2 minutes (sausage will not be all the way browned) add the peppers, onions and mushrooms. Continue to stir around, breaking up chunks of sausage and browning both the meat and veggies. Cook until veggies are tender, approximately 10 minutes depending on how hot your pan is. I prefer cooking this slower, closer to 10-15 minutes because nothing will burn and everything will become "happy".
6.) Drain the fat/oils from the pan.
***TIP: To Drain the fat, move all the meat and veggies to 1 side of the pan and then slightly tip the pan with the food at the top so the fat runs to the open spot. I use a kitchen spoon and ladle out the fat into a tin can I keep in the fridge. DO NOT throw it down the drain unless you want a huge mess later on.
7.) Add the dried spices and fresh garlic and mix in. I did about a 1/2 tbsp for each herb - basically a decent pinch of each and a few cracks around the pepper mill for the pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
8.) Add in red wine or chicken broth and let it reduce by half. Remember to use a wooden spoon here to scrape the bottom of the an for any brown yummy pieces that developed during cooking.
***TIP: Don't forget to pour yourself a glass of wine too!
9.) Add in the pasta sauce. Cook for about 1 minute - really you are just heating up the sauce. Turn your broiler on low.
10.) Remove pan from the heat and add and mix in the parsley.
11.) Place buns in an broiler safe pan and spoon sausage and veggie mixture into buns. (ps -I still had plenty of mixture leftover after filling this 4 hotdog buns that we filled 2 hoogies for dinner the next night!)
12.) Give each bun a good sprinkle of cheese.
13.) Place pan, uncovered under broiler -you are looking for a nice browning, maybe 2-4 minutes.
***TIP: Be careful and keep a watchful eye on food when using the broiler - things can go from perfect to burnt in a blink of an eye!
14.) Serve and Enjoy! I topped mine with a light sprinkle of fresh parsley. I highly suggest a fork and knife for these bad boys - they are messy!
Cost Breakdown:
Unfortunately I can not find the receipts from different purchases to make up this meal. The next trip to Publix I will make note of prices and update. However doing some quick math in my head of what I think the prices were - it was somewhere in the neighborhood of $17.00 total which is around $4.25 per person at 4 servings and $2.83 per person at 6 servings. Not to shabby!
If you have any questions or comments leave them below or
EMAIL IT TO ME!!!
