Linda's Fantabulous Italian Sausage and Peppers for a Crowd

Secret Agent's Note:

This is my favorite dish to serve at a Pot Luck buffet. You can serve it in a bowl, over pasta or rice, or as a sandwich. I never have one spec of this recipe left over. It is hands down my most requested dish.

• Total Time: 6 hrs
• Prep Time: 2 hrs
• Cook Time: 4 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 18

• 4 lbs italian sweet sausage
• 2 lbs hot Italian sausage
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 6 onions, large, sliced
• 1 teaspoon garlic, finely minced
• 6 bell peppers, red, orange and yellow, cored, seeded and sliced into strips
• 2 tablespoons rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon oregano, fresh and finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1/4 cup parsley, flat leaf, chopped
• 2 cups water (more or less)

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium low heat. Spread the oil in the pan.
2. Prick the sausage links to keep them from splitting open while cooking and to avoid getting burned by hot grease. If you like, you can use all sweet or any combination of sweet to hot you like(separate the links).
3. Brown the sausages very slowly in the skillet for 40 minutes or until browned all over and sticky.
4. If you can, slice them on the diagonal about 1/2 inch thick while they are still in the pan to preserve any liquids and tasty bits. If you can't slice in the pan just do it on a platter to reserve that goodness and re-introduce it to the pan - use a little water to rinse the juices back to the pan.
5. Add the garlic and sliced onions to the pan and cook until they are carmelized and soft. You may add water at this point to help loosen the fond, deglazing the pan. Once the pan is deglazed add the herbs to the pan. This may take another 20 minutes to cook.
6. Add the peppers and the rest of the water and cook for another 20 minutes. You don't want your peppers to lose all of their color so eyeball them.
7. Store in the fridge overnight. In the morning dump everything into crock pots to re-heat and cook on low for 2 - 4 hours. I sometimes reheat in a pan to make sure everything is up to temp before the party.
8. A lot of people think there are tomatoes in this dish but there are not.