This recipe is from my step-MIL, who applied a Provencal flavor profile to a traditional Italian dish. Preheat oven to 400. Using 8 large raw Italian mild pork sausages (see Note below), prick each sausage with a fork (three times on top and on bottom). Cut one yellow and one red bell pepper in half vertically, then cut half of each pepper into ½” vertical slices (set aside the remaining half of yellow and red bell pepper for a separate use). Slice 6 shallots into ½-¾” vertical slices. Lightly coat the bottom of a large (14″) baking dish with olive oil, then sprinkle 1 ½ tsp each fresh rosemary leaves, fresh thyme leaves, and dried Greek oregano, and 1 tsp dried fennel seeds. Place the sausages in a single layer in the baking dish, then surround with the pepper and shallot slices. Drizzle the sausage and bell pepper mixture with 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar and 1 Tbsp olive oil, then sprinkle with an additional 1 ½ tsp rosemary, thyme, and Greek oregano, and 1 tsp fennel seeds. Oven-roast for 30 mins, then turn over sausages to brown on both sides. (If too much liquid has leaked into the baking dish, sop up all but 2 Tbsp of the braising liquid, then drizzle with an additional 1 Tbsp each olive oil and 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar.) Oven-roast until sausages are browned and fully cooked (about 30 more mins). Serve immediately. We enjoyed this with slices of crusty French country bread. (Sept. 2017)
Note: We recommend Whole Foods mild Italian pork sausage. We used four WF mild Italian pork sausage and four WF mild Italian chicken sausage, but we found the chicken leaked out too much liquid (which can cause the sausages to steam rather than brown) and came out dry.
Cooking Adventures 