Sliced Italian Sausage Hoagies

I saw this on the Rachael Ray Show last week and it looked really yummy so I made it tonight.  I haven't been doing a lot of cooking because I really haven't felt up to it while pregnant so Cole was pretty excited when he walked in and saw a fully home cooked meal even though it was just Sausage Hoagies.  I subbed out turkey sausage for the pork sausage in the recipe.

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/sliced-italian-sausage-hoagies/

For 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 bulb fennel, trimmed and thinly sliced (I omitted this since Cole isn't super in love with it)
• 4 frying peppers, such as cubanelle, and red frying peppers, thinly sliced (I used 1 red bell pepper and 1 anaheim-I was only making this recipe for 2 people)
• 1 hot chili pepper, thinly sliced, optional
• 1 onion, yellow or red, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (I used 2)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 pounds Italian sausage links, hot, sweet or mixed (I used 4 hot turkey sausages)
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste (1 1/2tbsp)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (I just used stock)
• 1 cup chicken stock (I only used 1/2 to 1/3c)
• A few leaves torn basil (I didn't have any fresh on hand so I used dried italian seasoning and red chili flakes to get the desired spice we like)
• 4 Italian-style hoagie rolls, split and buttered
• 1/2 pound deli-sliced provolone cheese, halved (her recipes always call for so much cheese- I just grated up a little of what we had in the fridge and sprinkled it on the buttered rolls)

Directions:

Place the sausage in a skillet with about 1/4 inch of water and a drizzle of oil. Bring sausages to boil and allow liquids to cook away then crisp skins in the oil.

Remove sausages and add fennel, peppers, chili, onions, garlic, salt and pepper, and cook to soften 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add tomato paste to fennel and peppers, and stir 1 minute or so. Add wine and stir another minute; add stock and basil. Reduce heat to simmer.

Slice the sausages on an angle and add back to pan and simmer until liquid reduces and you are left with veggies and sausage in a bit of thick sauce.

Place your buttered and cheesed rolls under the broiler for a few minutes till cheese melts and buns are slightly toasted.  Add sausage/pepper mixture and enjoy!  I served along side roasted potatoes.  In the original recipe, Rachael Ray serves this with Ritz Fried Delicata Squash Rings.



My modifications to the recipe yielded enough sausage pepper mix for 4 rolls.