Sausage and peppers | sweet vinegar pan sauce | polenta or hoagie rolls

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**RECIPE, SERVES FOUR**

4 large Italian sausages, about 6 oz (160g) each (I prefer spicy)
3 large bell peppers
1 large onion
oil
vinegar
sugar
salt
pepper
fresh herb (oregano, thyme or basil would be good)
4 hoagie rolls (optional)

Optional soft polenta:

1/2 cup (70g) fine cornmeal
salt
water
butter
pecorino or parmesan cheese

If you're making the polenta, bring 3 cups (710mL) of water to a boil in a pot. Throw in a pinch of salt. Grab a fork or a whisk and stir as you pour in the polenta. Keep stirring until it gelatinizes and goes thick. Reduce the heat to low and cook slowly for at least a half hour, stirring occasionally and adding more water if it gets too thick. Right before you eat, melt in a lot of butter and a little grated cheese, then taste for seasoning.

For the sausage, heat a little oil in a wide pan (at least 12 in / 30cm) over medium heat and drop in the sausages. Rotate them periodically and cook them until they're brown all over and feel mostly cooked through (i.e. only barely squishy in the middle when you poke them). If the fond on the bottom of the pan shows any signs of burning, turn the heat down.

While the sausages are cooking, you can seed and slice the peppers into big pieces, and peel and slice the onion into wide wedges.

When the sausages are almost cooked through, take the pan off the heat and remove the sausages to a cutting board. Slice the sausages in half lengthwise or into thick rounds. Return the pan to the heat and put all the sausage back in, cut-side down. If it doesn't all fit in one layer, it should eventually as it cooks and shrinks.

Move the sausage around the pan to make sure each pieces gets evenly browned on the cut side. When they're done, take them out to a plate and put in your vegetables. Turn the heat up to medium-high and cook the vegetables, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. When the veg is 2/3 as tender as you want it, pour in vinegar to taste (I use about 1/4 cup, 60mL) and a spoonful of sugar. Stir everything up.

Taste a pepper and add salt and pepper to taste, and maybe more vinegar and/or sugar. Return the sausage to the pan and toss to get everything coated and hot. Turn the heat off, tear in some fresh herbs and stir to combine.

Eat it just like that, or toast the hoagie rolls under the broiler and have sandwiches, or coat each plate with polenta and serve the meat and veg on top.