Pat's Smoked Sausage and Pepper Sandwich

I love the Neelys. If you don't know who the Neelys are, they are two people on the food network. Husband and wife, they cook together in the kitchen, and they make them some soulful food, baby. I love their energy and how cute they are together. They're everything I wish I could have in the kitchen. I wish Sean was passionate about food. I wish Sean was passionate about anything! That boy needs to learn to have some fun.

Anyway, the Neelys.

They are so darned cute. Always laughing and having fun and playing around. And they make a lot of yummy stuff!

I had just gotten out of the shower and was puttering around the bedroom, doing after-shower things, like applying girly lotions and being distracted by the internet, and I always turn food network on to listen till I'm all done. But I honestly wasn't watching, just listening. I kinda heard peppers, and sausage, and beer at one point. I didn't know if it was from the same dish or not. Then I glanced at the end of the episode and saw him dishing these sausages out into the hoagie buns and immediately went to the food network website to see what the heck that yummy looking thing was!

This is that yummy looking thing.

You'll need 4 peppers (or 3 and an onion), tomato paste, smoked sausage, hoagie buns, garlic, bbq sauce and.. what's that?

Oh SNAP. It's beer. What the heck was that doing in my fridge? Sorry, Garret. It went to a good cause.

First, take your peppers..

Amuse yourself by taking pictures of peppers in different orders..

And slice them up. No dicey! Slicey!

Then take 3 cloves of garlic. Oh come on, I can't ever use the right amount. So I grabbed one more. And its baby.

Sliced peppers! So pretty.

Then cut your sausage into however large you want, I made mine the same size as my buns but I forgot to allow for SHRINKAGE. Shrinkage, it's an issue for many. So allow at least an inch when you cut them. Then cut them in half! Oh and mince that garlic at some point too.

Put a little olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and fry up both sides.

Remove to a plate. Don't clean out your skillet.

Add your peppers on in. Stir them around and let them start to cook.

Meanwhile, measure out half a cup of BBQ sauce. I love being the SAWSE BAWSE.

Then open your beer. I love that little mist that comes off of bottled drinks when you open them.

Then pour yourself a cup. For cooking, not for drinking.

Ooh carbonatey.

Then get back to your peppers, which should have been cooking for about 6 minutes or so, but probably more because you were taking a million pictures of beer bubbles. But maybe you aren't as distracted by strange things as I am.

Then throw in all that lovely garlic.

Stir it around! Man does that smell good. Garlic and peppers is a match made in heaven.

After your garlic starts to smell very fragrant, add your cup of beer..

Your bbq sauce and your tomato paste..

And stir that around, letting it bubble for a few minutes. The recipe calls for 2 tbsp of tomato paste but I added more like 3 1/2. It helped thicken it up.

Then nestle your sausages into the sauce and let it simmer for 10 minutes or until it's thick enough for your liking.

You can toast the rolls if you want, but I can't be bothered. And Sean didn't care. So put a sausage and some peppers onto a bun..

Then add a slice of mozzarella or provolone.. and devour. It can get a little messy if the sauce drips out so eat over your plate. And have a napkin nearby.

Sean liked them a lot. I liked them a lot. What a nice flavor combination. Go beer. Except for the drinking it part. I still can't seem to do that. Believe me, I tried to finish the rest of that bottle. No sir.

Pat's Smoked Sausage and Pepper Sandwiches (original recipe found here)

• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound smoked sausage, sliced into quarters then lengthwise
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
• 1 orange bell pepper, sliced
• 2 medium yellow onions, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup beer
• 1/2 cup Neely's BBQ sauce
• 4 fresh hoagie rolls

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sausages and brown on all sides, about 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from skillet and reserve.
Add onions and peppers to the skillet and saute until tender and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Stir in the tomato paste, beer, and BBQ sauce. Cook for a few minutes, then add the sausages back to the pan. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce is nice and thick, about 10 minutes.
Slice the bread open, put on sheet tray, and toast in the oven while the sausage is simmering. Remove the bread from the oven and fill with the sausages and peppers.
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Simple, easy and quick. Delicious.