Italian Sausage Supper Stuffing

This is a recipe that we have made before and really liked. Though I do say, even with 2 people cooking and having done it before, there is no way we could do it in 30 minutes. But it is so tasty. We added ricotta cheese (why not right?) because we needed to use some we had. I wouldn't do it again. It was good but the creaminess was over the top and I think it diminished some of the other flavors.

Italian Sausage Supper Stuffing

This is from the Everyday with Rachel Ray magazine (the pic is from the website) from fall of 2007 I think. It is supposed to be 4 servings. But we got dinner for the 2 of us, 2 lunches and a midnight snack out of it.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 pound hot Italian sausages
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausages
• 2 Cubanelle peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 hot pickled cherry peppers, seeded and finely chopped, plus a splash of their juice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (We used vegetable broth because we ran out of wine)
  
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 large cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
• 1/2 loaf Italian bread, split lengthwise
• 1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano or pecorino-romano cheese (a couple generous handfuls) (We used asiago because we had it on hand)
  
• 1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley (a generous handful), finely chopped
• We added 8 oz ricotta cheese
  
• 1 cup basil leaves, coarsely chopped or torn

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with foil and scatter the tomatoes on top. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon EVOO and season with salt and pepper. Roast until tender, about 15 minutes.

2. While the tomatoes cook, in a medium skillet (I think you need a large skillet for 2 lbs of sausage), add 1 tablespoon EVOO, 1 turn of the pan, the hot and sweet Italian sausages and enough water to fill the pan by 1/4 inch. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the liquid evaporates, 10 to 12 minutes. Cook until the casings brown, 3 to 4 minutes more.

3. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon EVOO, 1 turn of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the Cubanelle peppers, red bell pepper and onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook until just tender, 7 to 8 minutes. Stir in the pickled peppers and their juice.

4. Remove the sausages from the skillet and cut into chunks. Add to the peppers and onions. Pour the white wine into the sausage skillet and, using a wooden spoon, scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour into the pepper-onion mixture.

5. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in the sausage skillet over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute, then whisk in the chicken broth and cook until reduced, about 2 minutes. Add the reserved tomatoes and mash into the liquid; reserve the baking sheet, discarding the foil. Cover the tomato gravy to keep warm.

6. In a microwaveable bowl, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon EVOO and the garlic. Microwave for 20 seconds. Brush the garlic butter over the bread, then sprinkle the cheese and parsley on top. Cut the bread into large cubes. Arrange the bread cubes on the reserved baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes. (I cut the bread into cubes and then pour the garlic-butter mixture over it and sprinkle with cheese and parsley)
   

7. Combine the garlic-bread cubes with the sausage-pepper-onion mixture (this is where we mixed in the ricotta), spoon into shallow bowls and top with the tomato gravy and basil.