Categories
Main Dish Soup

Ring in winter with bell pepper soup

Italian sausage and pepper soup contains lots of fresh vegetable flavor along with deep Italian herbs and spices.

This past week, we went north to Iowa and Minnesota for a newspaper conference and to visit some friends.

One of my wonderful friends, who has inexplicably given up her Kansas roots for the big city of Minneapolis, assured us that Minnesota is generally pretty mild in October, so we were excited to experience some nice, fall weather.

But, as often happens, Mother Nature had other plans, as we endured rain—and eventually snow—and some cold winds while we visited. It was still a great trip, but when the northerners are bundling up and complaining, you know you hit a weather anomaly.

We still had a great visit, despite the cold, and upon coming home, it reminded me that soup season is most definitely just around the corner.

With that in mind, this week’s recipe comes from “Parade” magazine and is by Donna Elick. You can find their original post at https://parade.com/217706/donnaelick/30-minute-italian-sausage-and-pepper-soup/. I added extra tomato paste to use an entire can, put in extra garlic, and I got rid of the added olive oil, since I figured the sausage would have enough grease for the pan on its own. I also added some more herbs.

Print

Italian Sausage and Pepper Soup

Italian sausage and pepper soup contains lots of fresh vegetable flavor along with deep Italian herbs and spices.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword peppers, sausage, soup, spicy

Ingredients

  • 1 pound spicy Italian rope sausage casing removed
  • 1 small yellow onion diced
  • 4 bell peppers get a variety of colors, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 6-8 cloves garlic minced
  • 2, 14.5- ounce cans Italian style diced tomatoes
  • 6 ounces tomato paste
  • 8 cups chicken broth
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil roughly chopped, or 2 teaspoons dried basil
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley roughly chopped, or 2 teaspoons dried parsley
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano

Instructions

  • Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Saute the sausage in the pan, breaking it apart as it browns, and add the onions as well. Stirring regularly.
  • Once the sausage is cooked through, add the peppers and cook to your desired tenderness, continuing to stir often. Add the garlic and cook for an additional two minutes.
  • Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste and broth, and scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any cooked-on bits.
  • Bring the soup to a low boil. Add the salt and pepper, basil and parsley and allow to boil for about 10 to 15 minutes.
  • Serve with crusty bread.

The flavor of this soup was fantastic, and it was a really quick meal to make, too. It was a bit of a thin soup overall, though, so it would be a great side dish, or you should definitely serve it with some big, thick bread or rolls. Of course, it’s that same quality that makes it a good, lighter lunchtime option.

We didn’t end up ordering any soup while we were up north, opting instead for everything from a delicious Ecuadorian restaurant to coal-fired pizza and fresh fish and chips.

What we’ve learned about Minnesota over the years is you definitely can’t predict the weather, but you can count on some really good meals.

This piece first appeared in print on Oct. 17, 2019.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Side Dish

Just ‘fry’ to resist these scrumptious potatoes

Italian fried potatoes are a relatively simple recipe with lots of flavor.

When I was younger, I knew it was going to be a great supper if I saw my mom’s electric skillet sitting out on the counter.

That meant we were having fried potatoes as our side dish for dinner. I can still smell them cooking when I think about that skillet. It was one of my favorite things.

Mom would cut Russet potatoes into about quarter-inch rounds and add them with oil, garlic salt and pepper into the electric skillet.

They always came out creamy and delicious—especially if you got one of the crispy potatoes that was just a bit thinner than the others.

Now I’m making myself hungry.

Well, in the spirit of my Mom’s tried and true potato recipe, I decided to try one that’s extremely similar but adds Italian frying potatoes (or whatever long, mild green pepper you can find) into the mix. I wouldn’t recommend bell peppers for this, but if that’s all you can find, go for it.

I found this recipe on a blog with a fantastic name, “Panning the Globe.” You can find the post at www.panningtheglobe.com/2016/11/02/italian-fried-potatoes-peppers/. I added more seasoning to my version.

Print

Italian Fried Potatoes and Peppers

Italian fried potatoes are a relatively simple recipe with lots of flavor.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Italian
Keyword garlic powder, onion powder, peppers, potatoes

Ingredients

  • about 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 5 large Russet potatoes
  • 4 long mild green peppers (I used Anaheim)
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or to taste
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon onion powder or to taste
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Slice your potatoes into rounds as thinly as possible or no bigger than one-quarter inch. If you have a mandolin slicer, this would be a good time to pull it out. Slice the peppers into one-by-one-inch strips and remove the seeds.
  • Heat the oil in a large skillet with a lid over medium-high heat. (It may feel like a lot of oil in the pan, but the potatoes will soak it up as they cook. You’ll want somewhere around 1/4-inch of oil in the bottom, but if you want to use less and just keep an eye on it, go for it.)
  • Once the oil is hot but not smoking, add the potatoes and seasoning into the pan and stir to coat the potatoes.
  • Don’t stir them again for another three to five minutes—letting the bottom get nice and browned with the lid on the pan.
  • Add the peppers into the pan, and flip the pan’s contents so the browned potatoes end up on top.
  • Put the lid back on and let things set for another three to five minutes. Repeat that process until your potatoes are all either crispy or nice and fork tender.
  • Add more seasoning to taste.

I didn’t peel my potatoes for this, but if you’re not really into potato skins, you’ll probably want to. They’ll mostly separate from the potatoes into long strips in the mix.

These potatoes also reheated really well, which was good, because it made tons and tons of food. It certainly wasn’t my healthiest week of lunches to take to work, but I tried to rationalize the fact that I was also taking meatless lunches made it better somehow.

You might want to decrease the number of potatoes and peppers if you’re not planning on feeding a small army, though.

The only disappointing part of this recipe is that this was definitely not as good as my mom’s. I may have to sweet talk her into firing up that electric skillet again sometime soon.

This piece first appeared in print on March 8, 2018.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Exit mobile version