Getting Sauteed Up

As I start cooking, I'm excited to get sauteed up and get them browned on all sides. While I do that, I'll start doing all the slicing because we have a lot of peppers and a lot of onions to get through. Sausages make amazing dishes with peppers and onions, and I've made my sausage and peppers with Andouille, Spicy Italian, and Sweet Italian. Just do what you like - your favorite sausage is the key to making it all come together.

Slicing the Peppers and Onions

This is probably the longest part of this process, really slicing all the peppers and onions. It's easier just to cut them in half and then take all the seeds out before starting to slice them. The aroma that comes from those sliced peppers and onions is amazing - it smells like a delicious dish is coming together.

Cooking with Paper

Writing is a very strange process, it's kind of like opening up your heart and exposing it and then trying to get it all down on paper. That's where Todd really helped me - he would come over and we'd talk through it, and that developed into this interesting book. Because I spent a lot of time cooking during the lockdown, I just wanted to add recipes so in between chapters there are going to be recipes of things that I love to cook.

Sausage and Peppers

I cooked probably twice a week, sausage and peppers were one of my favorite dishes - I just want to show you how to slice this. So we're going to slice it down the middle, which will help take the skin off easier. Once you get the skin off, what you'll see is these grooves all around the onion - you'll stick with those grooves and you'll get these beautiful little half moons that break apart and make perfect caramelized onions.

Caramelizing Onions

We're going to do this with two onions, let's get the sausages out and let them rest. These guys have released a lot of nice liquid - it's time for us to start getting all the veggies sauteed. I'm going to turn down the heat to low simmer because I want those onions to really brown and caramelize. The key to browning and caramelizing veggies is letting them go low and slow, and not move them around a lot while they cook.

Adding Peppers to the Pan

As the onions start cooking down a little bit, it's time for me to get in on their business and see what's going on. I just want to get some of those brown bits up - those brown bits are flavor. The pan looks over full, don't worry; it will cook down.

Browning the Garlic

Normally if something is going to cook for a long time, you wouldn't want to add garlic right on the heat of the pan because you don't want it to burn. But there's so much liquid being released from all the veggies that the garlic is going to do just fine and melt down.

Adding the Sausages

For this version of sausage and peppers, we're using plant-based sausages and I browned these earlier before even starting on the peppers and onions. So we're just going to give them a beautiful little diagonal look at that - they're already cooked all the way through.

Finishing Touches

I'm also going to go get a splash of apple cider vinegar, which adds another layer of flavor that you don't even know it's there but you'd miss if it wasn't there. Look at that; they've just caramelized beautifully now. We're just going to let that apple cider vinegar cook down in the meantime and we'll add more sliced sausages until everything is heated through.

Adding Freshness

Just before serving, I'm going to take off a few of the leaves from some fresh basil and give them a quick chiffonade. Chiffonading is when you gather all the leaves and you roll them up - then when you slice into them, they become little ribbons.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: ensausage and peppers and the reason i love sausage and peppers is because you can put any kind of sausages that you want in this you can even make it vegan so i'm using vegan sausages because beth and todd have really started to try and get more into plant-based cuisine so i want to help them along with that and i've got all these sausages now that i'm going to get sauteed up get them browned on all the sides and while i do that i'm going to start doing all the slicing because we have a lot of peppers and a lot of onions to get through so they make amazing sausages on the market and i have made my sausage and peppers with andouille with spicy italian with sweet italian just do what you like your favorite sausage and then it's a sausage with the peppers and the onions that really makes it all come together this is probably the longest part of this process is really slicing all the peppers and the onions it's easier just to cut it in half and then take all the seeds out and then you start just slicing them all wow those smell amazing just get them nice and brown on all the different sides and now i'll keep going on the peppers writing is a very strange process it's kind of like just opening up your heart and exposing it and then trying to get it all down on paper and that's where todd really really helped me he would come over and we'd talk through it and it developed into this really interesting book and because i spent a lot of the lockdown cooking i just wanted to add recipes so in between chapters there's going to be recipes of things that i love to cook and then there's this sausage and peppers that i cooked probably twice a week i just want to show you how to slice this so we're going to slice it down the middle and this is going to help you take that skin off a little bit easier so once you get the skin off what you're going to do you see how the grooves are all around the onion you're going to stick with those grooves and you get these really beautiful little half moons that are then going to break apart and make this perfect little caramelized onion so we're gonna do that with two onions so let's get the sausages out let them rest these guys have released a lot of nice liquid let's start getting all the veggies sauteed i'm gonna turn this down to a low simmer because i want these onions to really brown and caramelize and the key to browning and caramelizing veggies is letting them go low and slow and don't move them around a lot while the onions cook down a little bit i'm going to start slicing up all the peppers not too thin because you want them to hold up they're going to be cooking for a good 30 40 minutes all right peppers are sliced up i've left these guys alone long enough now it's time for me to get in on their business and see what's going on i just want to get some of those brown bits up all those brown bits are flavor okay that looks good now it's time for the peppers to start piling in and then we're going to let them do their thing yes the pan looks over full do not worry it will cook down peppers are in now i'm going to slice up the garlic now normally if something is going to cook for a long time you just don't want to get the garlic right on the heat of the pan because you don't want it to burn but there's so much liquid being released from all the veggies the garlic is going to do just fine and melt down i'll just let the heat do the work the peppers are really cooking down beautifully it's been a good 30 minutes it's got about four or five minutes to go in here time to slice up the sausages and for this version of sausage and peppers we are using plant-based sausages and i browned these earlier before we even started on the peppers and the onions so we're just going to give these a beautiful little diagonal look at that they're already cooked all the way through i'm also going to go get just a splash of apple cider vinegar and i like apple cider vinegar in this it adds another layer of flavor that you don't even know it's there but you'd miss it if it wasn't look at that they've just caramelized beautifully now we're just going to let that apple cider vinegar cook down in the meantime we'll get the rest of these sausages sliced add them in and let them heat back up it really is amazing the meat alternatives they have out there now you can have traditional sausage and peppers and feed your vegetarian friends just want to get a little bit of freshness on there just taking off a few of the leaves and give them a quick chiffonade so chiffonading is when you gather all the leaves and you roll them up then when you slice into them they become little ribbons i don't do it for the perfect ribbons i do it because it's just easier to slice a lot more basil together there we go and then got the heat turned off then we can add the basil that's so pretty sausage and peppers yousausage and peppers and the reason i love sausage and peppers is because you can put any kind of sausages that you want in this you can even make it vegan so i'm using vegan sausages because beth and todd have really started to try and get more into plant-based cuisine so i want to help them along with that and i've got all these sausages now that i'm going to get sauteed up get them browned on all the sides and while i do that i'm going to start doing all the slicing because we have a lot of peppers and a lot of onions to get through so they make amazing sausages on the market and i have made my sausage and peppers with andouille with spicy italian with sweet italian just do what you like your favorite sausage and then it's a sausage with the peppers and the onions that really makes it all come together this is probably the longest part of this process is really slicing all the peppers and the onions it's easier just to cut it in half and then take all the seeds out and then you start just slicing them all wow those smell amazing just get them nice and brown on all the different sides and now i'll keep going on the peppers writing is a very strange process it's kind of like just opening up your heart and exposing it and then trying to get it all down on paper and that's where todd really really helped me he would come over and we'd talk through it and it developed into this really interesting book and because i spent a lot of the lockdown cooking i just wanted to add recipes so in between chapters there's going to be recipes of things that i love to cook and then there's this sausage and peppers that i cooked probably twice a week i just want to show you how to slice this so we're going to slice it down the middle and this is going to help you take that skin off a little bit easier so once you get the skin off what you're going to do you see how the grooves are all around the onion you're going to stick with those grooves and you get these really beautiful little half moons that are then going to break apart and make this perfect little caramelized onion so we're gonna do that with two onions so let's get the sausages out let them rest these guys have released a lot of nice liquid let's start getting all the veggies sauteed i'm gonna turn this down to a low simmer because i want these onions to really brown and caramelize and the key to browning and caramelizing veggies is letting them go low and slow and don't move them around a lot while the onions cook down a little bit i'm going to start slicing up all the peppers not too thin because you want them to hold up they're going to be cooking for a good 30 40 minutes all right peppers are sliced up i've left these guys alone long enough now it's time for me to get in on their business and see what's going on i just want to get some of those brown bits up all those brown bits are flavor okay that looks good now it's time for the peppers to start piling in and then we're going to let them do their thing yes the pan looks over full do not worry it will cook down peppers are in now i'm going to slice up the garlic now normally if something is going to cook for a long time you just don't want to get the garlic right on the heat of the pan because you don't want it to burn but there's so much liquid being released from all the veggies the garlic is going to do just fine and melt down i'll just let the heat do the work the peppers are really cooking down beautifully it's been a good 30 minutes it's got about four or five minutes to go in here time to slice up the sausages and for this version of sausage and peppers we are using plant-based sausages and i browned these earlier before we even started on the peppers and the onions so we're just going to give these a beautiful little diagonal look at that they're already cooked all the way through i'm also going to go get just a splash of apple cider vinegar and i like apple cider vinegar in this it adds another layer of flavor that you don't even know it's there but you'd miss it if it wasn't look at that they've just caramelized beautifully now we're just going to let that apple cider vinegar cook down in the meantime we'll get the rest of these sausages sliced add them in and let them heat back up it really is amazing the meat alternatives they have out there now you can have traditional sausage and peppers and feed your vegetarian friends just want to get a little bit of freshness on there just taking off a few of the leaves and give them a quick chiffonade so chiffonading is when you gather all the leaves and you roll them up then when you slice into them they become little ribbons i don't do it for the perfect ribbons i do it because it's just easier to slice a lot more basil together there we go and then got the heat turned off then we can add the basil that's so pretty sausage and peppers you\n"