Saturday, January 10, 2009

Comfort Food: Italian Sausage Skillet Slop

When I left my workout this morning, the cold rain that has soaked East Tennessee chilled me to the bone as I hurried to the warmth of my car. I drove towards home under the wintery gray sky and knew that today was a day for comfort food. Hmmmm but what, chili? Spaghetti? Nope, I was thinking about Italian Sausage Skillet Slop.

Johnsonville Italian Sausage, italian sausage skillet slop
I thought about it because I had some left over roasted tomatoes the day before, using the temps/times from this recipe. I used the oven and they were good, but next time I'd fire roast them with some cherry wood in the Big Green Egg.


I sliced about 4 of them and added them to the rest of the ingredients

Ingredients
1 pound Italian sausage
1 onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1 can Italian seasoned tomatoes
1 pound Rigatoni
2 teaspoons Dry basil
1/4 cup parsley chopped
3/4 cup parmesan, cheese shaved or shredded
1/2 cup olive oil

Instructions
Crumble the sausage into a skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring often until meat begins to brown. Add onions and bell pepper. Continue to cook until the onion is soft, but not brown. Pour off excess fat.

Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes (break up with a spoon). Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes or until thickened.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. In a bowl, combine parsley, basil, 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, and olive oil. Add rigatoni and mix.

Pour in the mixture from the skillet and stir. Serve with the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese.


We have been making this recipe for about 15 years and love it. It's easy, full of flavor, and warms you up on a frigid, wet nasty day.

For a printable version, click here:
Italian Sausage Skillet Slop