Lauras Tuscan Cooking

Spicy Sausage and Pepper Pasta

Servings: 6
Preparation Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: 25 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Spicy sausage, red wine and fire-roasted tomatoes come together in this ragout-like sauce.
Truly hearty and satisfying.

Instructions

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.

Meanwhile, to make sauce, in a large non stick frying pan over medium-high heat, cook sausage until cooked through, about 10 to 12 minutes; remove to a plate.

Heat oil in same frying pan, add yellow peppers and onion; cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are lightly coloured and crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

Add wine and garlic; cook until most of liquid evaporates, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, crushed red pepper, salt and browned sausage; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until vegetables are tender and sauce is heated through, about 10 minutes.

While sauce simmers, add pasta to boiling water and cook according to package instructions. Drain pasta; return to pot. Add sauce and basil; toss to mix and coat.

Is it a dangerous game to say, on behalf of your wife and yourself, to friends when they invite you round for a meal “oh don’t worry about us, we eat anything”.

Now 9 times out of 10 if that is generally the case you are ok and a nice night is had by all, but let’s face it we have all been burned by that 1 time have we not?

For me this happened back in the day when we were invited to my friend and his wife, as well as his children, who I am fortunate enough to be God Father to, this I thought was an ideal Saturday night.

“PRAWNS” I mean PRAWNS come on, who takes such a bold ingredient to add to a curry, Lamb good, chicken good fish good but prawns I mean come on. That is not a food that looks edible I’m sorry but it doesn’t so I was mortified to have to deal with them, ok the alcohol helped I don’t dispute it, but eat it I did (just) and a good night was had by all.

Who needs an “obsessive cleaning disorder” when you can have “obsessive BEANing disorder.

Baked beans just has to go with everything – I am sure 1 person across the world has baked beans with every meal possible and I am sure, if my wife did not do the food rota each week, I could plan baked beans with everything.

My dream week would consist of:

Monday: Chilli (baked beans instead of kidney beans)
Tuesday: Tuna steak, new potatoes, baked beans
Wednesday: Chicken with jacket potato and baked beans
Thursday: Lasagne, spicy wedges and baked beans
Friday: Chippy tea, fish, chips, beans and bread bun
Saturday: Gammon, egg, chips and beans.
Sunday: Roast (who needs a side order of carrots and cauliflower when you can have broccoli and baked beans.

Most importantly of all it goes just a well with beer and/or wine…

Anyone tried baked beans with a curry, it’s the only one I have never tried, watch this space….

Primeval or Geeky?

Is it just me or are menu’s really interesting??

It doesn’t matter where I go I always seem drawn to them like a magpie is to shiny things. Even if I’m not planning to eat I can guarantee the minute I sit down and there is a menu on the table I will instinctively reach for it.

Even if I’ve just eaten, I’ll still just have to have a look “what’s on offer”! and once I have exhausted the food menu I will then happily scan the drinks, even examining the ones I don’t drink with a critical (albeit clueless) eye.

My obsession with menu’s and what’s on offer is not limited to eating out, despite the fact that I rarely order a take-out should a menu fall on the doormat I feel compelled to read it from cover to ahem cover. Even though I have no intention of ever ordering from the establishment.

I wonder if my obsession comes from a basic need to feed or whether really it is because (and I suspect this is more likely the case) that I am just a menu geek.

What’s your favourite food….

Oh God I dread this question, for me this is liking asking which do I prefer, my left foot or my right foot? Well actually I rather like both of them as they each serve a pretty useful purpose!

I cannot possibly pick one food over another and cannot understand anyone who would single out a particular type time and time again until, well, until inevitably they cannot “stomach” it anymore!

Over the course of the week I globe trot around the culinary world regularly visiting India, Italy, Mexico, Spain and China.

And am I afraid to try something new? Never, to me this is a sin against sustenance. What’s wrong with eating something that heaven forbid you have never tried before? Surely the worst that can happen is that you don’t like it, so therefore don’t cook it or order it again. No big deal right?

Food is wonderful, glorious and should never be underestimated, restricted or stifled.

Explore it to its full potential and you never know you might just find a new “favourite” dish.

It’s lovely to have the chance to eat out more often. The sociable atmosphere of a nice restaurant is really hard to beat. Great company, excellent food and drink, pleasant surroundings and the opportunity to take it easy and cut loose all add to the fun of eating out in restaurants and eateries.

However, finances can stop you from eating out as much as you’d like. This is why online bingo is such a great idea. It is possible to spend your winnings on the things you enjoy doing. You can treat winnings as an opportunity to treat you and your friends and family rather than doing practical things.

This is because some of the promotions at sites like Tasty Bingo offer you the chance to win money completely for free. Daily jackpots of £50 in Tasty Bingo’s free games are great when you just want to be able to spend a little money on taking your partner or your family out for some classy food.

Other sites offer similar free promotions, as well as more lucrative deposit games where you can win a small fortune if lady luck is on your side. If you go to ohmybingo.com, you’ll find all the latest special promotions.

When it is cold outside and the snow is falling down all you want to do is snuggle up in front of the fire and eat! This is so true and everyone I speak to seems to want to stuff their faces at the moment. All everyone fancies is chocolate, crisps, sweets and greasy take away’s such as pizza, Chinese and Indian meals. All I fancy in this weather is marshmallows melted on the fire and a massive mug of hot chocolate. Actually a chocolate fondue would be amazing right now. What do you think, is this what you are craving?

This evening after we finish work my friends from work and I are heading over to the Manchester Christmas Market to sample the delights they have in store for us! I feel so festive at the moment and am so looking forward to later. It’s a German and International market so I expect there to be coconut macaroons, Gluwein, Mulled punch, Bratwurst, foreign beers, Belgian chocolates, truffles, cheeses, hams, olives, donuts, roasted chestnuts and varieties of goulash! It is the perfect place to get Christmas prezzies and also to have an excuse to try them before you buy them for other people!

Recently I have been very lazy. I can be excused hopefully as it’s my birthday tomorrow so i’ve been very busy running around seeing lots of friends and family and eating rubbish. Is that a good excuse? Last week I had a curry on Monday, chip butty on Tuesday, Chinese on Wednesday.. and Thursday (not my fault, the housemate fancied it and ordered it for when I arrived home from work!) and on Friday I went to the Christmas Market and had a hot dog for my tea! This week I am going on the Mediterranean diet and having plenty of fish and vegetables in order to ensure I fit in my Christmas Party dress in a few weeks time.

Oh yes it’s getting to that time of year again, wait for it, are you listening? CHRISTMAS!! We’ve put up our office miniature Christmas tree and have been listening to the Love Actually soundtrack and in particular the little girl’s version of ‘all I want for Christmas’ and I am really in the festive mood! Time to start baking Christmas food including Christmas cake, mince pies, Christmas pudding and stuffing and of course it is time for getting the Baileys out! I shall be eating sprouts also in honour of the festive season. What else is festive food? Remind me and I shall eat it! Oh, it’s Bonfire night tonight, time to get the parkin out and the toffee apples! Have a good one people.