When I was a kid on Long Island, every summer there were “feasts” everywhere.  St. Anthony’s Feast, St. Christopher’s Feast, pretty much any Catholic church and basically it was just Italian food vendors on church grounds.  The whole town would go and you would really just eat the whole time you were there.  Zeppolis (oh my God, the zeppolis!), Italian Ices, baked clams, hamburgurs, pizza, hot dogs and of course sausage and peppers. Between meals (which occurred every hour) and trying to convince the beer vendors that we were 18 – yeah, back then the legal age was 18, I’m that old…  we would go on rides that were temporary structures, probably held together with spit and duct tape.

These festivals are some of my favorite memories of growing up on Long Island and there are certain flavors that I just will always associate with these festivals; sausage and peppers being the most popular fare, by far.  I decided to play with that idea and although I don’t love green peppers I do love the different colored peppers.

• 2 red peppers
• 2 yellow peppers
• 2 orange peppers
• 1 red chile pepper (remove the seeds and ribs if you don’t like it too hot) and mince
• 2 large white onions
• 5 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped finely
• 1 package mild italian sausage links
• beef broth
• worcestershire sauce
• tomato paste
• 2 boxes farfalle (bowties)

In a dutch oven on med heat, start to brown your links. I like to get them browned on the outside with a little char so that they crunch a little bit.  Make sure not to pierce them with a fork or cut them open yet – you want the juices intact.

Put up a pot of water for the pasta and julienne the peppers.

When the sausages are browned to your liking, remove and set aside (these are still sort of raw in the middle, so treat them like raw meat to be on the safe side).

Add a little oil to the pan and add the garlic, and chile pepper

saute, and stir and scrape the bits of sausage off the bottom of the pan. When you can smell the garlic add the peppers and onions

and saute until soft and glossy.  At this point, your pasta should be done.  Drain and set aside and transfer everything from the dutch oven into the pasta pot on a medium heat setting.

Slice your sausage into 1/2 inch slices and add to your pepper mixture.

Add about a cup of beef broth and about 15 shakes of Worcestershire sauce. Cover and let it cook until your sausage has no trace of pink.

Add the pasta to the pot and toss well to combine.  Serve immediately.

Definitely comfort food that reminds me of those festivals, but way less messy.  Serves 6-8 people.

Next time I think I’ll double the sausage, maybe buy one package mild and one package hot.

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