“Sausage and...” is undeniably one of the most classic lead-ins to something truly delicious. “Sausage and Peppers,” “Sausage and Potatoes Provençal Style,” “Sausage and Parmesan Polenta,” and so on. Rarely is sausage the star on its own, and for good reason – it’s simply too delicious when sharing the spotlight.
Today, I’m pairing Italian Style sausage with eggplant, onions, and red bell peppers to create a sort of ‘stew’ or ‘sauce’ that, while delicious on its own, can just easily be spooned over rice, pasta, or folded into flatbreads.
Why You’ll Love Today’s Recipe
1) Appetizer or Main Course - You Decide This recipe can be a meal unto itself, especially if paired with pasta or rice, but it’s also at home as part of an appetizer spread, especially if paired with flatbreads and cured meat. In other words, this recipe is at home in the spotlight, but isn’t averse to playing a supporting role either. It’s all up to you.
2) Make Ahead. This recipe will keep in the fridge for three to four days, and only gets better during that time, since the flavors meld and marinate. As a result, this is a great recipe for making ahead of time by a day or two.
3) A Recipe For All Seasons. Given this recipe’s combination of warming flavors, and ‘stew like’ composition, it’s great for colder weather, especially alongside a nice piece of crusty bread. By contrast, this would also pair excellently with flatbreads under the sun on a summer day just fine, making this a year round recipe.
Ingredient Notes
1) Supermarket vs Butcher Shop Sausage – Not A ‘Clear’ Cut. I am biased towards butcher shops. I grew up the daughter of a New York butcher who had a Manhattan butcher shop on 62nd and First, and a Yonkers butchery on McClaen Avenue. Having spent the first half of his childhood in Italy, my father spoke fluent Italian, and picked up a smattering of German and French to better serve his New York clientele at the time. I can remember my father making sausage by hand using a muscle powered crank, and the bits of information I learned from him regarding meat and the meat business have proven invaluable all these years later. Back then, to get truly quality meat, you needed a quality butcher. That’s less true today, since supermarket meat ‘has’ gotten markedly better, and this is especially true in metropolitan areas. However, up until recently it was a truism that local butcheries were going the way of the gourmet deli – they were simply disappearing. However, with Americans eating more meat than ever (surprise!), local butcher shops are experiencing something of a minor renaissance. But if supermarket meat is ‘also’ experiencing a renaissance of quality, one would be forgiven for asking “What gives? How can both of these things be true at the same time?” The answer is that your local butcher is better for things like prime cuts, fresh meat, rare or ‘odd’ cuts, and premium or ‘specialty’ brands that the local supermarket simply doesn’t have the clientele for. In other words, if you ‘know’ that your local butcher shop stocks daily, or that they stock a particularly premium brand of meat, or if you want a rare cut of meat that supermarkets could be forgiven for not stocking, then finding a good local butcher shop is the way to go. Sausage, sadly, is very hit and miss when it comes to butcher shops - so my advice is simply to sample what’s available in your area, and be the judge yourself.
2) Your Choice of Peppers. Purely a matter of preference, since we want the peppers primarily to add ‘meat’ and ‘color’ to the recipe. Spicy peppers would work well here, or perhaps habanero, grilled serrano peppers, or even jalapenos. Just be sure that you’re using roughly the equivalent of one red bell pepper to keep the recipe balanced.
More Sausage Goodness From Living the Gourmet
1) Sausage and Peppers. I mentioned sausage and peppers earlier, and here’s a link to my favorite version of that classic Italian American recipe.
2) Sausage and Potatoes. A “Provençal” classic, a one pan meal combining sausage and potatoes in an herbed ‘stew’ or ‘sauce, this is ‘elegantly simple gourmet’ at its finest. Trust me, try it.
3) Sausage and Tomatoes with Homemade Flatbreads. I mentioned once or twice above how well today’s recipe would pair with flatbreads, here’s an example of precisely that.
Sausage & Eggplant
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Ingredients
- 6 Italian Style Sausage links
- 1 red bell pepper - sliced
- 2 red onions - sliced
- 6 cloves of garlic - chopped
- 2 serrano peppers - sliced - with or without seeds
- 1 Sicilian eggplant - cubed with skin
- 1 pint of cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 lb. of fresh baby spinach
- 10 - 15 fresh basil leaves
- 2 tbs. raisins
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tbs. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 - 3 tbs. honey
- 2 - 3 tbs. olive oil
- Thinly sliced Parmesan or Romano cheese
- Fresh Italian bread or you favorite bread
Instructions
- Heat a large cast iron frying pan and place the tomatoes and onions in the pan to achieve a nice char and toss.
- Add the cubed eggplant and let the eggplant get a bit of a char as well.
- Add the sliced peppers and again let the peppers get a nice char and toss.
- Drizzle these veggies with the olive oil and toss.
- Add the baby spinach, raisins and seasonings and toss.
- In a separate cast iron frying pan cook the sausage to achieve a nice char and slice into chunks and add to the veggies.
- Combine the lemon juice and honey and add into the veggies and sausage. Taste for seasoning and re-season if necessary.
- Let the pan simmer on a gentle heat for 15 – 20 minutes.
- Add the fresh basil and thinly sliced cheese and toss.
- Drizzle with a bit more olive oil and serve with your favorite Italian bread.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
And that’s our recipe for Sausage and Eggplant. If you enjoyed today’s recipe, or have any questions or suggestions, be sure to let us know in the comments below. We always love hearing from you. Happy Cooking!
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angiesrecipes says
A hearty and very delicious dish! Thanks for sharing the recipes, Catherine.
Chad says
omg this looks out of this word! Exactly my kind of food...I would love to cook it, this weekend for sure.
Pati Robins says
i love a good hearty dish ! this one looks so yummy and your photos are outstanding
catherine santiago jose says
Wow, this dish looks really delicious and I am so excited to make this for my family.
Jacque Hastert says
I love the combination of sausage and eggplant. Eggplant brings so much healthy flavor and never gets used enough. I can't wait to make this next week.
LuciWest says
First of: your food photography is beautiful. I think it's a challenge to make sausage look appealing. Maybe because I'm a vegetarian 😉 And then the recipe with the eggplant, spinach, peppers and all the herbs and spices sounds so wonderful that I'll actually want to try it with a vegetarian sausage.
Natasha Romero-Salas says
That looks delicious and so filling! I recently just started making dishes with eggplant for example instead of buns for burgers I would use eggplant and I loved it. Trying this next.
Michelle says
I have to agree with you. Pretty much anything with Italian sausage is going to be super amazing. I love this medley of vegetables and herbs. A heart-warming, healthy plate.
Yeah Lifestyle says
I think with more people turning vegan and vegetarians, the ones who eat meat are now finding out where their meat comes from and spending a bit more. We still eat meat but try to get it from our local butchers and this recipe is something I know I will cook for my family.
Myrah Duque says
Oh so good!! I just started playing around with making different types of recipes.Trying this one soon.
Candice says
All these flavors are incredible! So easy to make, and the dish is so darn tasty. We all liked it so much, that I am going to make it again, but this time on tiny crostini for a Thanksgiving appetizer. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Jenni LeBaron says
This sausage and eggplant dish looks absolutely delicious and I enjoyed reading your notes on butchers meat vs grocery store meat. I live in Portland so our grocery stores have great meat, but I would never think to buy, for example, ham hock from any of them because it doesn't compare to the quality you'll find at the local butcher. I think you're spot on about the quality of sausage being hit or miss though because not all butchers make it in-house. I can't wait to use our next batch of sausage for this gorgeous recipe!
Leslie says
I love recipes like this that can be used as a main course dish or a side dish. I prefer to cook a main dish that is hearty and healthy like this! Love it!
Anna says
Looks like such a hearty and satisfying meal, especially with some crunchy sourdough bread on side! Perfect dish for a whole family!
Rebecca Blackwell says
This is soooo delicious and simple to make. I just loved all the different the layers of flavor. I served it just as you have pictured here, with slices of warm bread. It's the perfect dish for this time of year!
Amanda says
What a great way to eat eggplant! I never thought to turn it into a skillet meal with sausage -- so brilliant and delicious! Thanks so much for sharing!
Sophie says
Love eggplants in anything. Your recipe is so so good. I will make it tonight with some vegan sausage and mushrooms.
kita says
You are so right "sausage and..." is always a good thing to read - because whatever follows next is always delicious. I love that we are having a butcher shop renaissance and the fresh sausages you can get now are so much better than what I (not from a food family) had growing up!
Eggplant is also something I never had growing up. But I LOVE it. This dish looks so incredibly comforting to me. Perfect for the cozy weather I am having right now. I am so excited I put it on the menu this week. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Kara Guppy says
I love aubergine but only have two recipes for it, so thanks for this. I looks scrummy
Luna S says
I don't eat eggplant often, but this looks good enough I would eat it again! I will try this out sometime, it looks perfect for a dinner.
Celebrate Woman Today says
Eggplant and basil are my favorite ingredients. And you have them in this recipe. Looks truly amazing.
Yeah Lifestyle says
This looks amazing! I love a sausage stew and it sounds super tasty with the peppers and eggplant too. I will have to try this out.
beth says
This is sure to impress friends and families. Im excited to try your recipe!
Marie Cris Angeles says
This dish looks so delicious. I'm sure my family will love this, I cant wait to try this for my family.
Nadalie says
Love the combination of meat and vegetables! This is really good and would love to try this out soon!
Monidipa Dutta says
Your combination of Sausage & Eggplant is a culinary delight! The flavors must complement each other perfectly. I can almost taste it through your description. Thanks for sharing this mouth-watering recipe! 🌭🍆😋
Zab Zaria says
There's something new about this recipe for me! I'm glad I found out about it! Thanks!
Melanie Williams says
Ooo now this looks sooo yummy. A good cosy warming meal for a cold evening supper xx
Marysa says
This sounds like such a delicious combination. I love all the fresh ingredients, including the fresh basil.
Alita Pacio says
This sausage eggplant is bursting with fabulous Italian flavor. Its a delicious, make-ahead, dinner party-worthy meal!