The Crawfish Boil: Jambalaya

Prior to the wedding extravaganza, I found myself back in the two states that I have spent most of my life in- Louisiana and Texas. It was a bittersweet trip back as it started with my grandmother's funeral, but it was also a great chance to reflect on the awesome life she led. A tremendous part of that life was keeping her family happy and together with some truly amazing cooking. From the world's most spectacular okra gumbo to a chicken stew that the English language does not have words to adequately describe, everything she made was utter comfort and perfection. So, when I found myself back in Houston later that week, I decided to honor her memory with some great Louisiana cooking that would've made her and her famous Sunday dinners proud.

Jambalaya
Adapted from Emeril
Servings: 8-10
Time: 45 minutes

It felt good to be doing prep in Kevin's kitchen again.

24 shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped
12 oz Andouille sausage, sliced
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, choppped
4 large cloves garlic, minced
2 small tomatoes, diced
2 bay leaves
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco to taste
1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
5-6 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp Tony Chachere's Seasoning (at least but you'll want more)

At first, it will appear to be soup. Do not be concerned. Continue drinking beer whilst it gets deliciously absorbed.

1. Sauté the sausage, onion, and green bell peppers together in a large pot over medium heat until the onion is tender and translucent. 
2. Stir in the garlic, tomatoes, bay leaves, and tabasco. Let cook for another minute.
3. Add in the rice, and slowly pour in the broth. Start with 4 cups. Stir occasionally and cook until the rice is tender and has absorbed the liquid. Add additional liquid until it the rice reaches the desired tenderness and consistency.
4. Mix in the shrimp and let cook until orange and finished (3-5 minutes).
5. Decide you can't wait to get a fork and start dipping tortilla chips in the pot until people start looking at you funny then join in.

The final delicious, risotto-y goodness.

This jambalaya was unbelievably delicious. Somehow, despite not trying to replicate my personal favorite Jambalaya Risotto, I managed to make a similarly creamy Cajun treat. This was less tomatoey than the typical jambalaya, but all those great Cajun spices and flavor really came through. People were seriously just dipping tortilla chips into the pot after a while because it was so good. This definitely would've made Maw-Maw and the family smile. But, no matter how hard I try,  I'm still not sure if I can ever live up to the legendary meals she crafted.

Stay tuned for the main event of the evening- the crawfish!

Sopa de Pollo con Fideos

Following the success of Cajun Cubanos and Robin's awesome Cuban cookbook Christmas present, I decided that my New Year's cooking resolution was to get more in touch with my Cuban half. After many mornings of strong Cuban coffee and an initial attempt at the Cuban staple black beans that was somewhat underwhelming (and will become a post after some further attempts and tweaking), I realized I was going to have to connect the two halves of my heritage and Cajunify my Cuban cuisine for the best of all worlds.

With a freeze approaching and a night-shift Robin in need of a food-laden care package, I decided to go with the Hispanic version of chicken noodle soup known as sopa de pollo con fideos spiced up with some New Orleans andouille sausage along with some fresh rolls and cookies (more on that to come later) to keep us warm and too full to care about the weather.

Sopa de Pollo con Fideos
Adapted from The Cuban Table by A. Pelaez and E. Silverman
Servings: 6-8
Time: 60 minutes

What are so many veggies doing in my cooking?

4 cups shredded chicken (about 2-3 lbs)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb andouille sausage, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1" rounds
1/2 lb russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 1/2 yellow onions, diced
2 green bell peppers, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
5-6 cups chicken stock
1 bay leag
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Red chili flakes to taste
1/2 tsp saffron threads
Sriracha to taste
10 oz fideo noodles (thin spaghetti)
Lime juice

Perfectly shredded chicken. Thanks, pressure cooker!

1. Make your shredded chicken. I lazily made mine by adding 2.5 lbs chicken breasts, 4 cups water, 3 chicken bouillon cubes, 1 chopped carrot, 1 chopped bell pepper, 1/2 onion, and sriracha to a pressure cooker and cooking under high pressure for 20 minutes. This also doubled as most of my stock, and it was delicious. Set aside.
2. Heat your oil over medium in a 6 quart pot. Sauté the carrots, potatoes, onion, bell pepper, garlic and sausage together until the sausage is cooked through and the veggies are tender (about 10 minutes).
3. Add in the chicken stock, bay leaf, salt, pepper, red chili flakes, saffron, and sriracha. Bring to a fast simmer and let cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add your noodles and let simmer until the noodles are tender (~ 10 minutes).
5. At long last, add the shredded chicken and cook until warmed through (5-10 minutes). Adjust the seasoning, and serve with a dash of lime juice.

So much going on and all of it delightful

This soup was exactly what I needed to hibernate during the freeze (It's amazing how spoiled I have already become to avoiding cold weather after just a month away from near constant travel to upstate New York.). Starting with the pressure cooker shredded chicken that was already a delicious soup on its own, I knew this was going to hit the spot. The andouille sausage I added gave it the perfect hint of gumbo, while each bite was overflowing with all the noodles, veggies, and chicken your heart could desire. In fact the ratio of broth to ingredients was heavily on the ingredient side, which was exactly what I was looking for. My original introduction to chicken fideo soup was at the Loredo Taqueria in Houston, oddly enough in taco form because of Texas law, and this brought back all those wonderful memories. Combined with the dense, buttery goodness of pan de media noche, and my greatest baking risk ever, the sriracha cookie (stay tuned), I had everything necessary for several days of a Netflix aided stupor while avoiding the barren wasteland of the outside world.

Buttery, eggy Cuban rolls perfect for dipping or just devouring on their own

The original inspiration for making this soup, the chicken fideo taco, transported me back to Texas during the lone day of harsh winter.

New Year's Lasagna

For some odd reason, Robin decided that we needed food to go along with our Drunk Prussian Champagne Punch this New Year's Eve. Despite my protestations that the sherbert in the punch constituted food, Robin continued to demand fanciness from our soiree. She sent along a lasagna recipe she had been eyeing, and I got to prepping while waiting for her to come home and give me excuse to start drinking champagne without feeling shame.

Would this lengthy recipe be the first true test of our living together, or would we ring in the New Year with happy, full bellies?

Four Cheese Sausage and Spinach Lasagna
Adapted From Host the Toast
Servings: 8-12
Time: 3 hours

Sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
8 oz diced prosciutto
1 medium onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 28 oz cans whole Roma tomatoes with juices
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp red chili flakes

Ricotta
32 oz Ricotta cheese
2 egg yolks
1 cup basi leaves, chopped
1 pinch nutmeg
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

The Rest
1 box lasagna noodles 
Water
10 oz fresh spinach
1 lb mozzarella cheese, sliced
8 oz provolone cheese, sliced
Parmesan cheese
Fresh Basil

1. Make the sauce. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. Sauté the sausage, prosciutto, and onion together until the sausage is browned and the onion is translucent (~ 10 minutes).
2. Forget to take any pictures while trying to get everything made before your guests arrive.
3. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook for an additional minute.
4. Add in the canned tomatoes, sugar, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Let simmer on low for at least 30 minutes or until the rest is ready. Use the back of a wooden spoon to break apart and squish the tomatoes as they soften.
5. Prepare the ricotta mix by whisking the Ricotta, egg yolks, basil, nutmeg, parmesan, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Set aside.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
7. Layer the noodles in a 9"x13" baking dish with one noodle placed diagonally between each layer. Cover with warm, near boiling water and let sit for 20 minutes, so the noodles are tender but not fully cooked. Drain the noodles and pat dry.
8. Spray the baking dish with non-stick spray, and cover the bottom layer with sauce.
9. Make a layer of noodles with each slightly overlapping to cover the bottom fully. Top with 1/2 of the ricotta, provolone, mozzarella, and half the spinach. Repeat for a second layer. Then make the top layer with noodles, sauce (if there's room to not overflow, which we did not have), mozzarella, provolone, and parmesan. 
10. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, add fresh basil, and cook for another 30 minutes. It is useful to have a rimmed baking sheet under the pan to catch overflow.
11. Let cool and serve.
12. Enjoy days upon days of the greatest lasagna known to man.

Having this many ingredients inside a lasagna means it is pretty much impossible to get a good looking picture of it. 

Aside from actually making the noodles yourself, this may have been the most time consuming lasagna I can think of (much worse than my first post of Tofu Kale Lasagna or a Zoodle version), but it was so worth it. It made the entire Stouffer family quake in their shoes. Each bite somehow found a way to present even more melty glorious cheese than the last, while the Italian sausage and spinach brought explosive flavor. The odd noodle soaking step is a must in lasagnas, as the resulting noodles were the most perfect I had ever consumed and absorbed the sauce beautifully while cooking. Despite having oodles of leftovers to ring in our new year, we never got tired of this amazing feast, and we may have shed a tear when the baking dish was finally empty.

We enforced a very strict dress code for our party. I wore only my finest pajama pants.

Stay tuned for the rest of our New Year's celebration featuring the pure unfiltered insanity of a Drunk Prussian fueled shortcake decorating contest.

Would my shortcake take the gold, or would I spend my night sobbing to Ryan Seacrest?

Game of Thrones: Dragon Eggs with Fire Sauce

Making a Red Wedding Cake for my Game of Thrones Premiere Party only seemed natural, but I found myself completely stuck trying to figure out how to honor dragons. Fortunately, my sister, the world's largest Khal Drogo lover, had just the solution I was looking for. I could make Scotch eggs because what's the use of wrapping something in meat if you're not going to fry it too.

Thanks for the idea, sis. This Mamoa's for you.

Additionally, I knew this could serve as a teachable moment for the kitchen-impaired Lars. It has long been my hope to end her nights of dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets (even if they are scientifically proven to be the tastiest shape there is). I was going to throw her straight into the fire (read: make her handle all the things I didn't feel like doing) and see if she truly was the Mother of Dragons.

Dragon Eggs
Adapted from All Recipes
Servings: 12
Time: 60 minutes

Lars out-peeled me 2 to 1

12 Jumbo eggs
3 lbs ground sausage (I used Jimmy Dean)
Cajun Seasoning
Hot Sauce
4 cups dried bread crumbs, seasoned
4 eggs, beaten
Oil for frying
Fire sauce (recipe below)

Teaching moment one: Get your hands covered in raw meat, so I don't have to!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Boil the eggs by placing them in a pot and covering with water. Bring to a boil, then cover and remove from heat for 10 minutes.
3. Bring the oil to 375 F in a large pot (only fill halfway).
4. Let cool and peel the eggs.
5. Season the sausage with hot sauce and cajun seasoning (lots of both).
6. Wrap the eggs in a layer of sausage. Then dredge them through the eggs and coat with bread crumbs.
7. Fry until golden brown (about 3-5 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon and let excess oil come off on a plate lined with paper towels.
8. Transfer to a baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes in the oven. Remove any excess oil and keep warm in the oven at 200 F.

Scotch eggs are surprisingly fun and easy to make (especially when you have someone else doing the dirty work). Plus, they also revealed some of my kitchen deficiencies. Apparently, I suck at peeling boiled eggs, but at least the cholesterol bomb of an egg deep fried in sausage will ensure I don't live long enough to feel that shame. I highly recommend seasoning/hot saucing the sausage as much as possible for the full fire effect because the breading and frying will dull it somewhat.

"Where are my dragons?!!?" (They're in your hands. Chill.)

Fire Sauce

Adapted from Olives for Dinner

Previously seen Here

Time: 2 minutes

Mayonnaise 

Sriracha

Cajun Seasoning

Dracarys! Yep, that's exactly what it was like.

1. Mix the mayo and sriracha together in approximately equal proportions (alter to control spice level). Season and stir until smooth. 

These would be worth several armies in Westeros.

Scotch eggs truly are a thing of beauty. You get to journey through the seven four kingdoms of crispy breading, meaty sausage, the tender inner soft boiled egg, and the creamy fire sauce. Plus, they look freaking giant and awesome (and it seems like they'd be fun to throw at people). Even without the opportunity to honor the most majestic imaginary creature this side of the unicorn, these giant fried balls of fury are a perfect stylish appetizer for any gathering.

The dragon eggs look slightly less intimidating when opened, revealing their inner googly eyed nature.

As far as my absurd days of cooking go, this was one for the ages. Aside from the Dragon Eggs and Red Wedding cake, we also supplied some Rosemary Potatoes that went nicely with Kevin's coincidentally prepared Rosemary Chicken Legs (it's like our minds are always in sync), and our sweet tooths were further satiated by Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Sprinkles Cupcakes (the most true food to Game of Thrones because, let's be honest, they totally look like boobies). Plus, I felt a great deal of accomplishment from helping Lars stop being the Jon Snow of cooking.

The meal was rounded off with Kevin's Rosemary Chicken, Lars' and my Rosemary Potatoes, Megan's Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Laura's Sprinkles Cupcakes.

Mom's Diner: Cajun Eggs Benedict

For our final culinary collaboration, my mom wanted to show we are a family with a little class and not just one that ate chili cheese fries and the food that helped lead Elvis to XXL jumpsuits and an early grave. Nothing says fancy like brunch, so we decided on the classic brunch staple- Eggs Benedict. However, on the way to making one of the most typical brunches out there, something magical happened. We Cajuned it up to create one of the most mouthwateringly delicious meals I have ever had.

Cajun Eggs Benedict
Servings: 4
Time: 30 minutes

Veggies in oil always smell awesome

1/2 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery heart, deveined and chopped
1 tbsp garlic, minced
Tabasco to taste
Tony Chachere's to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste
1 can Rotel
1 lb alligator and pork sausage, quartered (halved lengthwise then halved)
1 lb crawfish, peeled and seasoned (we used frozen)
Butter
4 English muffins, toasted
4 eggs

Is it pork? Is it alligator? Who cares? It's delightful.

New Orleans is all about decadence, so naturally we had to top things with buttered crawfish.

This felt like cheating.

1. Brown the sausage in 3 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat.
2. Start a piquant sauce. Sauté the onion, bell pepper, garlic and celery in several tbsp of olive oil until tender. 
3. Add the tabasco, Tony Chachere's, cayenne and rotel to the veggies and cook uncovered until well mixed (~10 minutes).
4. Mix in the sausage and simmer for 10 more minutes.
5. Melt butter in the pan you used to brown the sausage then cook the crawfish in it for about 5 minutes (season with tabasco and Tony Chachere's).
6. Poach your eggs (you can find a tutorial here).
7. Toast the English muffins.
8. Top half of an English muffin with the sausage then the poached egg, crawfish and excess piquant sauce.

It was important to load up on all the fatty goodness after taking a pretty pic.

We truly saved the best for last. Everything about this take on Eggs Benedict worked flawlessly. The alligator sausage was perfectly browned and added nice spice and heartiness to everything, but it especially blended perfectly with that poached egg (the world's fanciest and best tasting egg). The piquant sauce added some nice onion and peppers to the mix without overpowering that gooey egg like a thick sauce would have. Meanwhile the buttery crawfish helped up the savory quotient to practically unsafe levels. All of these aspects served as truly fitting toppings for that fantastic crispy toasted English muffin it sat on. This wasn't just my favorite dish I've ever made, it was one of my favorite meals I have ever eaten.

It was a truly amazing day (Yeah 4 major recipes in under 24 hours. That's just how my mom rolls.) of cooking with my mom, and I can't wait for my next visit to her diner for more delicious eats and quality culinary lessons.

Recipe Revisited: Sausage & Mushroom Cannelloni

As we ventured into the heart of Houston in search of food on Easter Sunday, we were constantly shutout at closed venue after closed venue (seriously, Chipotle, you can't be that holy). We knew we would have to take matters into our own hands and make a spectacular Easter Family Dinner. We also knew that we were feeling quite lazy (as my sweat pants could attest), so the bachelor staple spaghetti quickly came to the forefront of our discussion. Seeing how it was a special day, I decided we should make a more spectacular pasta with help from one of my first posts, a transformed spinach and mushroom cannelloni.


Cannelloni Noodles
Adapted from All Recipes
Previously Seen in Spinach & Mushroom Cannelloni
Servings: 15 noodles
Time: 20 minutes

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups water
6 eggs
1 tsp salt

1. Whisk the ingredients together in a large bowl until there are no lumps.
2. Pour 1/4 cup of batter into a lightly greased frying pan over medium heat and move in a circular motion to evenly spread.
3. Cook until the top begins to change color and thicken then remove to a plate. They will keep cooking once removed, so wait to stack them on top of one another until the tops are completely done.

These noodles are ridiculously delicious and practically melt in your mouth. Even after making these twice, I can't believe that cooking what is essentially a noodle pancake has such fantastic results. I upped the salt for this go around to bump the flavor a little, and it worked wonderfully. Just make sure that when you cook these, you take them off before they're fully cooked so the backside doesn't get too hard. If cannelloni isn't your thing, these extremely worthwhile noodles could also be utilized for a lasagna.

Mushroom, Zucchini, Sausage & Cheese Filling

Time: 30 minutes

Olive Oil

Butter

Onion, diced

Garlic, minced

Sweet Italian sausage, ground

Salt and Pepper to taste

Red pepper flakes

Mushrooms, sliced

Zucchini, chopped

Jalapeno, chopped and seeded

Garlic Powder

Dried Basil

Oregano

Ricotta cheese

Mozzarella cheese, grated

Pasta sauce (I suggest tomato and basil or vodka sauce) 

Luckily, the ugly filling gets covered up by the shell.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Brown the sweet ground Italian sausage in olive oil with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Set aside.
3. Sauté the onion, garlic, mushroom and zucchini in olive oil with salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried basil and oregano until tender.
4. Mix in the sausage and pasta sauce and cook until the sauce is warmed.
5. Spread a little sauce (try to use mostly sauce and save the meat and veggies for the filling) over the bottom of baking dishes.
6. Mix the sauce (go for mostly the meat and veggies this time) with the cheeses for a two to one ratio of cheese to sauce in a separate bowl.
7. Fill each cannelloni shell with 1-2 tbsp of filling then roll and place roll side down in the baking dish. Pack tightly. Place the filling on the side of the cannelloni that was cooked since it's the uglier side, and vanity is everything.
8. Top with the remaining sauce and mozzarella. Bake for 10 minutes or until the mozzarella is melted and the noodles are warm.

The perfect sauce for pasta.

Kevin's sauce creation was the epitome of Italian goodness. The sweet Italian sausage's powerful flavor (including some fantastic bites of fennel) was brought out even more by the onion, garlic, mushroom and zucchini. Yes, zucchini is in the pasta sauce. I've noticed that green veggies actually go pretty well with your typical tomato sauces, so this is definitely something I want to experiment with in the future. Additionally there was a nice, subtle kick from the red pepper flakes and jalapeno that managed to enhance the flavor without distracting from it.

Naked noodles

Ricotta and mozzarella aren't the most commanding cheeses but they round out the filling brilliantly. The ricotta helps create a nice creamy and somewhat fluffy component, while the mozzarella (especially the cheese on top) helps push this almost toward a lasagna style.  Feel free to vary the ratio of cheese to meat and veggies, but I would definitely err toward the side of cheese for a more traditional approach.

Two giant casserole dishes filled for 3 hungry men.

As amazing as I thought the original spinach and mushroom cannelloni was (and I highly recommend it for a great vegetarian Italian night), this latest iteration absolutely blew Easter dinner away (thanks largely to the fact that I knew exactly how to handle the noodles this time). This was definitely a quick and easy way to turn a standard Italian night into something fresh and exciting that was just absolutely bursting with flavor.

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo

There's one glorious occasion celebrated around the city of New Orleans when it starts to get cold. No, it's not the Saints headed to the playoffs (really, we couldn't celebrate that until the past 5 years). Rather, it's that it's finally time to make a delicious, hearty gumbo to fight the moderate winter. As a good Louisiana boy, one of my first cooking adventures ever was a gumbo. I decided to make my mom a gumbo for her birthday when I was around 10, so I grabbed a cookbook and found a recipe. Then I did very little work and watched my mom make it like any good child would. When I moved to Los Angeles, I started to miss the South, so I have made sure to cook a gumbo at least once a year since.

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo
Adapted from one of my mom's cookbooks by Mrs. Dot Scanio
Servings: 8-10
Time: Approximately 4 hours

The hole patterns in rice always amuse me.

1/3 cup cooking oil
6 tbsp flour
2 medium onions, diced
1 lb andouille sausage, sliced
1 lb ham, cubed
3 chicken breasts
8 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes
3 chicken bouillon cubes
Gumbo file to taste (optional)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Tabasco to taste
Extra long grain rice

Your roux should be at least this color but preferably darker. 

Among the best smells to ever grace my kitchen

1. Make your roux. Mix the flour and oil over medium heat stirring frequently until it starts to smell nutty and becomes caramel colored. Let it get as dark as you possible, because your gumbo will take on that color in the end. 
2. Cook the onions and sausage in the roux until the onions become soft (about 5 minutes).
3. Transfer to a large pot and add the chicken, ham and water.
4. Bring the water to a boil then add the bouillon cubes.
5. Lower the temperature to a simmer and let cook until the chicken breaks apart (about 3 hours). Make sure to stir every 15 minutes or so to prevent burning.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste. (The andouille should add most of the salt and pepper that you need.)
7. Serve over extra long grain rice with tabasco (and a dash of file if desired).

You know it's ready when the chicken does this and you can no longer take the smell and must eat it.

I had one wish for the Saints game against the Giants this Monday, and that was to feast on a gumbo while the Saints feasted on the Giants defense. Thanks to Drew Brees and a lazy Sunday afternoon, that wish was fulfilled. This chicken and sausage gumbo is about as basic of a gumbo as you can make. Even with its unassuming appearance (and relatively low cost), it still packs an insane amount of flavor. Despite the near ubiquitous nature of the now shredded chicken, it doesn't take over the dish (but it might absorb most of the liquid once you put this in the fridge). Instead, it works in perfect harmony with the spicy andouille and ham to transport your taste buds to the French Quarter. As the game drew to its 49-24 close, I sat on my chair, full and knowing what it felt like to be utterly satisfied.

Later this winter, I'm going to venture out and try to make an okra and seafood gumbo. If it comes out half as good as my grandmother's amazingness (which should've been bottled and sold as dipping sauce for everything), then I'll be a happy man.

Italian Sausage with Peppers & Onions: The Dinner of Champions

Add penne pasta, asparagus, garlic bread & pretty basil leaves for a complete meal

Kevin and Alexis ran the half-marathon in San Antonio today while I sat on the couch, watched football and ate potato chips, so I decided to reward these world class athletes with a feast fit for a champion. Combined with finishing off the Kaya Toast, I made sure to load them with enough carbs that they would have been retroactively carbo-loaded for the race.

Italian Sausage with Peppers & Onions

Modified from AllRecipes.com

Servings: 8

Time: 40 minutes

8 links Italian sausage (I used chicken with mozzarella)

2 tbsp butter

1 yellow onion, diced

1 red onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 green bell pepper, sliced thinly

1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thinly

Fresh basil, minced

1 tsp dried oregano
1/3 cup white wine

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1. Brown all sides of the sausage over medium heat then remove from the pan and slice.
2. Sauté the onions and garlic in butter until soft and translucent.
3. Add the peppers, basil, oregano and white wine and cook until the white wine is reduced by half.
4. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and sausage. Cook covered at a light simmer for 15-25 minutes (make sure the peppers are tender).
5. Serve on bread or pasta.

I reminded them beforehand that dinner was for winners. This certainly was the impetus behind their success.

This is a quick and easy meal that is about as hearty as can be. The bold and manly flavors come together fantastically and go perfectly with a lazy Sunday night of watching football. It's a great way to spice up ordinary pasta or can be used to make delicious deli style sandwiches. There are two easy ways to vary this. You can substitute beer for wine, which I actually think tastes more authentic (but should naturally be Michelob Ultra if right after exercise), or you can leave the crushed tomatoes out to keep the mess to a minimum (especially if you're not using it for pasta). No matter what you choose, you'll be left with an incredible dish that is bursting with flavor and almost impossible to mess up. Just be sure to notify your cardiologist in advance before inevitably going back for seconds (arteries are for suckers anyway).

Now that's the plate of a man who just ran a half marathon... and immediately undid all that exercise

Vegetarian Note: I previously made the vegetarian version of this dish with veggie sausage. I can't recommend it enough. The flavors still come through magnificently, and the meal provides an excellent source of protein.

The vegetarian version minus tomato but with jalapenos.