A Hungry Bear

Last month I had the good fortune to work a few days at the home office of my coworker and his wonderful family. I have heard about his sausage and caramelized bell pepper pasta before, and even attempted to make it once. But I was WAY off… And it wasn’t just the view of the California mountains, lakes and state park we overlooked on the patio eating it, but it really did taste 1000 times better. My original interpretation of the dish didn’t capture the sweetness of the peppers, or the ground fennel. So when I went home, it was a top cooking priority to make this the right way. And I think the Marsh family would be proud (well, at least of the final dish, probably not my view of our condo complex)!

Grocery list: one pound Italian sausage (3-4 links), 3/4 pound dried pasta, 2 tablespoons fennel seeds, 4-5 garlic cloves, 5-6 bell peppers, olive oil, sugar, salt.

First, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large heavy skillet (I used my 7 quart le creuset). Brown the sausage - whole - on each side until cooked through. This took about 2 minutes per side, or 8-10 minutes total. Remove from the heat when they’re done.

While you’re cooking the sausages, you can prep the peppers. Stand the pepper up on end, and slice down each side - this will make flat pieces of pepper much easier to handle.

(Here are all the flat pieces of pepper - by the way, this is a method I picked up at a “knife skills” class taught at our local Cook’s Warehouse store.)

Thinly slice the bell pepper into strips.

When the sausages are done and transferred to a plate, add another tablespoon or two of olive oil to the pan, and add the pepper slices. Turn the heat to medium, and cook for about 5 minutes. Then turn the heat down to medium-low and cook the peppers slowly, stirring every few minutes, for at least another 20 minutes.

If you have a mortar and pestle, now would be the time to use it. If your kitchen isn’t quite as well equipped, you can improvise by using a meat mallet.

Fold the fennel seeds into a square of waxed or parchment paper, then pound for a minute or two.

The fennel seed should still have some texture - not pulverized completely to dust.

The peppers should release some of their liquid while they cook, but I found they dried out after about 15 minutes. I added a splash of white wine when needed (every few minutes for the last 10 minutes or so), to deglaze the pan.

When the peppers are finally soft and caramel colored, add the fennel seeds.

Thinly slice the garlic cloves…

…and add them to the pan as well. Throw in a generous pinch of kosher salt, and a teaspoon of sugar.

Even though I received explicit instructions that spaghetti was the best dried pasta shape, I was out so I had to substitute strozzapretti. Whatever you choose, cook according to package directions, drain and toss with olive oil while the pepper sauce finishes.

After the garlic has been in the pan for 3-4 minutes (it will start to turn golden but NOT brown), go ahead and add the sausage back in so it will warm up.

Stir in the pasta, and serve immediately. Top with fresh cracked pepper and plenty of fresh grated parmesan.