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Chicken sausage with peppers and cannellini beans

July 14, 2009 by greg 4 Comments

When I moved from California to the Fargo-Moorhead area way back in 1996 there was a great little Italian restaurant in Dilworth, MN that I used to frequent. It was called Paisano’s, had a nondescript decor and was situated in, of all places, a Howard Johnson’s motel. Although the casual atmosphere was nothing to write home about they had a dish on their menu that was absolutely scrumptious. It was a chicken dish served with peppers, sausage with a tangy bean sauce. If I recall correctly it was called country chicken and peppers but I may be mistaken. Sadly, Paisano’s closed many years ago but I still remember this hearty delicious dish.

Inspired by the Paisano’s dish I created a chicken sausage and peppers meal with cannellini beans. It is lighter than the meal from the restaurant as that one was swimming in butter.

Ingredients:
2-4 chicken sausages (I used 2)
1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper chopped
4-5 chopped pepperoncini peppers
1 medium onion chopped
1 medium carrot chopped
8 cloves garlic, more or less to taste
1 19 oz can of cannellini beans with liquid
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp fresh tarragon
salt and pepper to taste



I started this dish by sautéing the carrots and onions in a little olive oil, salt and pepper for about five minutes, just until tender. The dried oregano was added at this point. I then added the garlic and peppers to the pan and cooked them down for another few minutes. Next I added the chicken sausage and the beans with their juice along with the fresh tarragon. The pan was covered and this was simmered for 4-5 minutes until everything was heated through and the flavors were married. The lemon juice was added at the end of cooking and everything stirred together well.
I ate this dish as is but it would be terrific with some good crusty country Italian bread.
Filed Under: Italian Tagged With: cannellini beans, chicken sausage

Kicked up pizza bianca

June 29, 2009 by greg 8 Comments


I had a hankering fro some chewy bread like substance tonight so I whipped up some of my 5-minute bread dough using 2 cups whole wheat flour and 4.5 cups of all purpose flour. I was thinking of the Roman pizza bianca which is typically a simple flatbread made with a high hydration dough topped with olive oil, salt and rosemary. I added a few other ingredients to this no-cheese pizza. The dough rose for about 3 hours before I took a hunk of it and stretched it out into a square. I doused the dough liberally with olive oil and topped it with sliced garlic, fresh rosemary, fresh tomatoes and arugula leaves. The whole shebang was sprinkled with kosher salt and baked in a hot hot oven until crisp and bubbly. It really hit the spot.

Filed Under: Italian, Pizza Tagged With: 5 minute bread

Rustic lemon chicken with peppers and butter beans

February 22, 2009 by greg 3 Comments

We used to have a local Italian restaurant many years ago that would serve a rustic country dish made with sausage and peppers. I remember the wonderful tangy lemony broth that the dish was cooked in and how it mingled with the Italian herbs and the sweetness of peppers. This isn’t quite the same but I was inspired by that dish when I made this for dinner the other evening.

My dish was composed of two boneless skinless chicken breast cut into slices; one each of red, yellow and orange sweet bell peppers, sliced; one onion, sliced; six cloves of garlic, chopped; one can of butter beans, drained; dried Italian mixed herbs; juice and zest of two lemons; salt, pepper and a bit of water.

I started by sautéing the seasoned chicken breast in a hot pan with a bit of olive oil.

The onions and peppers were added followed by the garlic and lemon zest a few minutes later. These were cooked until they just started to soften.

I then added the beans along with about a half cup of water. You could add chicken broth or even wine at this point. I put in about half of the lemon juice. The cover was placed on the pan and everything was simmered together for about 5-8 minutes.
After the vegetables were tender I uncovered the pan, added the rest of the lemon juice and cooked it down for a few more minutes to concentrate the liquid to a flavorful broth.

This rustic stew-like chicken was served with a big slice of 5 minute wheat bread to sop up the juices.




Filed Under: chicken, Italian Tagged With: beans, peppers

Sausage and Stuff

April 1, 2008 by greg 1 Comment

I don’t know what else to call it other than good. A number of years ago there was an Italian restaurant in a little town near here in of all places a Howard Johnsons hotel. The decor was boring but the food was great. On their menu they had a wonderful country Italian dish they called sausage and peppers. It had Italian sausage cooked with white beans, onions, garlic, roasted red peppers and slightly spicy pepperoncinis. I think it had bits of tomato and herbs. I wanted to make something that reminded me of that dish. Unfortunately I didn’t have any white beans in the pantry and no red bell peppers to speak of. So I put together something a little bit different but with a similar taste. I started with sliced onions and garlic in a big pot. I added zucchini because I had it in the fridge. In went whatever sausage I had on hand in the freezer. There were three links of polish sausage and three links of a garlic sausage. About a dozen sliced up pepperoncinis, a can of chopped tomatoes, a bit of chicken stock, thyme and oregano and I had the basis for my country style Italian sausage and stuff. I also cooked up some whole wheat penne and added that to the pot. It actually worked together. I was pleased.

Filed Under: Italian Tagged With: penne, sausage

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