I possibly have a sandwich obsession. Granted not to the level of the newest Food Network Star but when I was pregnant with my son I ate my weight in Italian subs and I remain the queen of the breakfast sandwich. The hardest thing for me in the past was whenever I started a low-carb diet. I had to remove bread form my diet in the very beginning stages and then was only able to add it back in small quantities as I continued. A recent medical issue has forced me out of my low-carb ways and has me now eating the “ balanced diet” way so while I am still working to understand the new food plate as opposed to the food pyramid we were all so familiar with for so long, I am happy to reintroduce bread (specifically whole grain varieties of course) back into my diet. I have always looked to reduce the fat and caloric content of food when I can mostly because of my husband’s cholesterol issues so it’s not a huge change and I hope to have fun with it.
Fast forward to a shopping trip I took when I found fresh hot Italian CHICKEN sausage prepared by the grocery butcher. My love for Al Fresco sausage will never die but finding freshly made chicken sausage and in a spicy variety both my husband and I enjoy, is a real treat. Originally I was going to put it in a pasta dish, but much like the meatball night, a sandwich sounded much better! Check out my prep: Whenever I make cook Italian sausage and leave it whole, I always cook it in a skillet with olive oil heated to medium high heat. I brown the sausages all over. If I am going to continue cooking them in a sauce, I only cook them until they are about ¾ done. If they will be sliced for later, I cook them entirely.
In this case, I removed the mostly cooked sausages and set them aside on a plate lined with a paper towel. I added to the same pan with the leftover oil a sliced green pepper and sliced white onion. I cooked the vegetables for about 10 minutes, reduced the heat to low and then to the pan added 1 and half cups of jarred pasta sauce (Bertoli Olive oil and garlic remains are personal fave). I gave it a quick stir and then added back the sausage to the mixture. I covered the pan and allowed to simmer for 15 minutes.
Whenever my local grocery store has wheat baguettes buy one get one, I buy extra and freeze them. Thaw them on the counter when ready to use and they toast nicely! I split one of these baguettes into 4 pieces and each piece I cut almost in half, leaving part of the bread connected together to form a “boat” for the filling. Once the sausage mixture was done, I filled each piece of bread with one sausage, some of the onions, peppers and sauce and topped each now sub sandwich with 2% mozzarella cheese.
Popped into a 375 degree oven until the cheese is melted and slightly browned….delicious!
And possibly in need of a knife and fork to eat!
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, you should get one! So much easier to measure!
