Cooking Italian Is A Good Thing
Published by Carolin on Tagged Dinner, Side Dish
Today I decided I’m going to write about Italian cooking. Now can these people cook? I hear all the time “oh I would love to cook Italian, but I am not that good of a cook”. While I hate to burst your bubble but Italian cooking for the most part is pretty easy. It is very rustic, but very beautiful at the same time. Now of course like all countries it has its different regions where they specialize in the local cuisine. But like I said this is true to all countries. For instance you come to Canada and you have lobster on the east coast and then you have beef in the prairies. But it is all great food.
With Italian cooking I think we are so intrigued by it because of the fresh flavors. You taste the tomatoes, the garlic, the lemon, whatever it is you taste. Yes they blend together and make one great flavor but at the same time you can taste the individual flavors.
Now I am very fortunate, because my mother who loves Italian food has a very nice friend (Aurora). Now this lady is Italian and can she cook. She is forever sending home Italian cooking with mom, and my mom is so very nice to share. I just had some stuffed eggplant that she made and I think I died and went to heaven for a while. Maybe one day she will share the recipe so I can share it with all of you.
Back to Italian cooking being fairly easy. It really is. The thing with Italian cooking I find is, if you have the right ingredients and if they are as fresh as possible. You have conquered half the battle. If you remember back when I wrote my blog on “Why doesn’t it taste like yours” Italian cooking is a great example. Now that said, I am not saying that you still can’t make any recipe yours, by changing some quantities or even ingredients. I am saying fresh is best and of course good quality.
Now on that note I am going to share a recipe with you that is a very popular dish in Italian cooking. It is Sausage and Peppers, and believe me there are a lot of recipes out there for this dish. The one I am going to share with you is not a traditional tomato base one. Instead its base is balsamic vinegar. So now I am going to go back to my previous statement about good quality. In this recipe there are 2 ingredients that you do not want to compromise on. The first is balsamic vinegar. Now for one thing if you are only paying $2.00 or $4.00 for a bottle of balsamic vinegar, you are not getting good quality. I am not saying spend $85.00 a bottle (which I have to admit is darn good), but try to buy one in the $20.00 amount. There is such a difference. It is thicker it is richer I could go on and on. The second ingredient is sausage. Again don’t be buying the little skinny pork sausage. Go to an Italian market or if you are in Calgary go to Spolumbo’s www.spolumbos.com . They by far make the best sausage in the universe. Remember I mentioned my moms friend Aurora, while her son Tony and 2 other fellows Tom and Mike started this place a while back and there isn’t a person in Calgary and now in British Columbia (my friends come in to town just to get these sausage) that doesn’t know about Spolumbo’s. I should really say they are pretty while known probably across North America. Anyhow if you can get some Spolumbo’s sausage do, or buy the best Italian sausage you can in your area.
The rest of the ingredients are the fresh type and so as usual buy the freshest.
One last thing I need to mention before I share the recipe with you is how darned easy it is and fast. This is a great midweek dinner. You will literally be done within 30-40 minutes.
Sausage And Peppers
3Tbsp Olive Oil
1-pound Italian sausage (Hot or Mild will do)
2 Large Peppers (whatever color you prefer) cut into strips
2 medium Onions sliced
6 Garlic Cloves, chopped fine
1/4c balsamic vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste
You can either cook your sausage on the stovetop in some olive oil, or what I do is I cook them in a 350°F oven for about 20 minutes. This is a lot less messy and it gives you a chance to get the rest of the dish prepared.
Heat a large skillet on the stovetop to medium-high heat. Add olive oil. Then add onions stir and sauté until just getting soft. Turn the pan down to medium add your garlic and peppers. Cook until peppers are becoming soft. Pour in the balsamic vinegar in and let reduce a bit.
While the balsamic is reducing remove the sausage from oven and cut into 1-inch pieces. Add to skillet mixture cook for another couple of minutes. Voila
Serve this with some pasta with a splash of olive oil, some garlic and Parmesan, or serve over rice. However you decide you have a complete meal. Pour your wine and call everyone for dinner.
TIP OF THE DAY
Whenever I cook sausage it doesn’t matter what type, I cook them in the oven on a sheet pan. Unless I am doing a barbeque. It is so much cleaner and your stovetop will love you.
October 26th, 2007 at 10:08 pm
Not a big pepper fan, but that sounds pretty good. I also have to agree, Spolumbo’s is the BEST. I live in BC and go to Calgary to get it when I visit Carolin