Pasta with Peppers

Pasta with Peppers

Pressed for time? You can have this on the table in less than 20 minutes. A good recipe for writers or anyone pressed for time.

Ingredients:

12 ounces penned pasta
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 links sweet or hot Italian sausage
(3/4 to 1 pound, total) sweet or hot
1 large onion
1 each medium red, green and yellow pepper
2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (red wine isn’t quite as good)
4 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Cook the penned according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat the oil over medium heat in a deep 12-inch nonstick skillet. Pierce the sausages several times with a fork and add them to the skillet. Let them brown, turning occasionally, while you peel and thinly slice the onion. Add the onion to the pan as you slice, separating it into rings.

Seed the peppers and cut into 1/2 inch wide strips. Add them to the skillet, stir, cover, and raise the heat to high. Keeping the skillet covered as much as possible, add the tomatoes with their juice, the brown sugar, vinegar, bay leaves and basil. Stir well. Bring mixture to a boil.

Lower heat to medium-high and boil until sausage is cooked through and vegetables are tender but not mushy, about 7 minutes, uncovering to stir occasionally. Drain the penned and top with the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove the bay leaves.