Dennis and I haven’t had sweet Italian chicken sausages in a few weeks and we both had a hankering for them for dinner last night. I chose to bake them in the oven at the same time I’d be baking a sheet pan loaded with small yellow Dutch potatoes, sweet onion and red pepper. This could have been a sheet pan meal, but I ended up placing everything on two sheet pans before placing them into a preheated 400 degree oven for 35 minutes. I like using small yellow Dutch potatoes because of they are so creamy, with a light and subtle flavor. I love to use them in almost any dish requiring a potato.

I use mostly fresh herbs, garlic and simple seasonings when I’m cooking. I like to keep my dishes as healthy and clean as possible. To season my potatoes, onion and red pepper, I used one tablespoon of olive oil (over the potatoes), 8 cloves of minced garlic … I wanted this dish to be really flavorful, 2 red peppers (I could have used 3), a sweet yellow onion, kosher salt, several grinds of the pepper mill and 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (for optimal flavor and punch). I also used the leaves off of 15 stems of fresh thyme. I baked the sausages as is, no oil or seasoning needed – 35 minutes at 400 degrees turned out to be the perfect amount of time to bring my sausages to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. A note on the sausages: I used three because that’s how many people I have in my family. Feel free to use as many as you need to serve your group – but make sure to add extra potatoes, onion and red pepper :)).

Once everything was cooked, I let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing the sausages. I served this dish in a large, shallow bowl (my new favorite dish to have dinner out of). I’m so glad I bought 8 of these when I spotted them at Home Goods. I originally bought them with the intent of using them at Dinner Club the next time I host … coming up in December, or for my Thursday night book club, which I’ll be hosting next week. I would have used them for my Neighborhood book club a couple months ago, but the store only had 8 bowls and Neighborhood book club has more than 8 members :). I will say that every time I walk into Home Goods, I check to see if they have more of these bowls. I love the dinnerware they sell that is made in Italy – it’s so pretty, yet simple, to me.

Before serving my dinner, I decided I’d grate some Pecorino/Romano cheese over the top and add a little extra fresh thyme. We all wish we had more “thyme”, right?

I love this kind of dinner … you place your ingredients on a sheet pan (or two), place them in the oven and go about setting the table and just plain relaxing while your dinner cooks. In just about a half hour, you have dinner ready to be served. It’s healthy and faster than heading out to grab a bite.

Ingredients

3 sweet Italian chicken sausages

1-1/2 pounds of small Dutch potatoes

2-3 red bell peppers, sliced

1 sweet yellow onion, sliced

8 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

fresh ground black pepper (about 10 grinds over the vegetables)

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

15 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only, plus extra for serving

Pecorino/Romano cheese, for serving

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place sausages on one sheet pan.
3. Cut potatoes into quarters, lengthwise and place on half of second sheet pan. Slice red pepper and onion and place on other half of second sheet pan.
4. Drizzle olive oil over potatoes and with your hands, rub onto potatoes, making sure they are coated with the oil.
5. Sprinkle kosher salt over potatoes, onion and red pepper. Add black pepper and red pepper flakes.
6. Sprinkle minced garlic over vegetables and add fresh thyme.
7. Place both pans in oven and bake for 35 minutes, making sure sausages have reached 165 degrees.
8. Serve with grated cheese and more thyme.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris