Come late summer, every Monday my coworker brings the bounty of her
garden to the office to share. Peppers of all hues and sizes, eggplants like amethyst
globes, dragon's egg cucumbers, gorgeous, leafy kale.
One of the quick dinners I love to make with some of my coworker's homegrown
veggies is this dish. It's so vibrant with color and the unique taste of fresh
vegetables not bought from the store. Together with the spicy sausage, the
sweetness of the caramelized onions, and the farro that anchors the entire dish
– you have a simple, filling meal full of bold taste.
Tips:
You could saute all the ingredients together but I prefer to cook them
separately but in the same pan, to each ingredient's desired doneness, while
building layer upon layer of taste. Because each ingredient cooks with
different time lengths, the order you cook them is important.
If you don't have cooked farro at hand, I suggest buying 10-minute
farro (I got my 8.8 oz package at Trader Joe's) and boiling the entire contents
while cooking the rest.
Spicy Italian Sausage and Peppers with Farro
Serves 4
4 cups cooked farro
4 small red bell peppers julienned
4 small yellow bell peppers julienned
8 big full leaves of kale in a chiffonade
1 medium yellow onion sliced into medium-thin half-moons
4 cooked spicy Italian chicken sausages, sliced into diagonal pieces
Salt
3 tbsp olive oil
1. Heat the olive oil on a large
skillet on medium heat.
2. Once heated, spread yellow
onion slices to cover the bottom of the pan in one layer. They need to brown a
bit – not too much – but enough so they are translucent and slightly sweet,
about 10 minutes. Saute at least once.
3. Once the onions have
caramelized, take out of the pan, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible,
and into a large bowl.
4. Next place the sausage pieces
onto the skillet, with the cut sides down. Do not saute, but just brown each
side, then take out and place in the large bowl with the onions.
5. Hopefully there's a little
bit of oil left (not too much because you want to quickly sear the peppers, not
drown them in oil). Turn up the heat to
medium-high.
6. Once the skillet is hot, place
all your julienned bell peppers onto the skillet so that they cover the bottom
in one layer. You want to just barely cook them. They should have a bit of
brown char but still crispy and vibrant with color. Do not overcook, as you
don't want them faded and limp. Take out of the skillet and put into the large
bowl on top of the sausage slices & onions.
7. If there is only a little bit
of oil left at this point, that's okay. But if the pan is dry, just drop a
whisper of olive oil in it and turn the heat back to medium.
8. Now come your mounds of
chiffonade kale with a pinch or two of salt. Do not cook too long, you just
want them limp and darkened with that lovely emerald green color. Take out
quickly once limp before the color fades.
To plate it I prefer once again to layer. First comes the warm, cooked
farro; then the bell peppers; next the sausages; then the kale; and then crown
it all with some onion slices.