Not Another Spaghetti Western
 

The main reason I even include this is because a colleague said that the only thing her husband could cook was spaghetti. No, I’m not going to do a spaghetti recipe. There’s enough information about that already around. What I do want to tell you about, however, is a simple recipe that is somewhat Italian and makes for a wonderful dinner fare that demands a good wine and other romantic notions.

Ingredients:

Four Morrell smoked sausages (or a similar brand), some chopped or sliced green pepper and onions, one sliced mushroom, one 15-oz can of diced tomatoes, one small can of tomato sauce, one small can of tomato paste; and, pasta (you pick the type; we like wide noodles ourselves).

Seasoning:

Garlic (chopped or powder), pepper, Italian Seasoning, oregano.

Preparation & Cooking: Take the four smoked sausages and slice them into thin slices and place on a paper plate. Chop and slice the pepper and onion & place that on the plate. Slice the mushroom and set it separate. Open all your canned ingredients and have your spices ready.
Place the sausage slices, pepper and onions into a pan coated with olive oil which has been heating up for about 5 minutes. Stir about a few times and season these ingredients with pepper and garlic and some Italian seasoning. Let it fry for about 7-10 minutes at medium high heat, stirring occasionally to keep mixture from sticking.
Pour in the diced tomatoes, the tomato sauce and the tomato paste. Add some more Italian seasoning, some oregano, and put in the mushroom slices. Stir until it’s good and mixed. You may want to add a touch of water if it’s too thick and hard to stir. Let it begin to come back to a low boil, cover, turn heat to low, and let it simmer for about 30-45 minutes. When done, let it set for several hours to cool and get those flavors maximized.

Serving Tips: It will only take 10-20 minutes to reheat the pan (I prefer a longer, slower reheating time). You can also cook your pasta during that time, make a fresh garden salad, and fix some garlic bread to go with the meal. Remember to put a bit of olive oil in the water when you cook up your pasta. It helps keep the pasta from clumping and sticking to the pan (that and frequent stirring & checking!!). The wine should already be chilled. Iced tea is okay if you prefer.

I've used either Parmesan cheese or shredded cheddar cheese to top off this serving.  Or, you can just do it plain. 

I will sometimes add squash and zucchini slices to the fry-up with the meat.  If you do canned mushrooms, I suggest they go into the fry-up with the meat so they can absorb some of the spices and seasoning.