Thursday, April 2, 2009

Make Your Grill Happy, Make it an Italian Sausage.

As it is getting warmer, my grill has been on a lot. Mostly at work it seems, but at least once or twice at home. Of course I am excited about it because the grill just does something to food that can't be done in any other way. All winter long you eat the food that you can make well indoors. But for me, usually come the second week of "too cold to stand outside weather" I am missing a good grilled burger, or steak, or fish, or brat, or anything for that matter. Yes, you CAN go to a restaurant and get a grilled item, but isn't it just better to stand next to that box of charcoal (or gas, because sometimes it's just easier) and grill your own food? I would say that the answer is yes.

So now that it is warmer and we are starting to grill we have to decide what we are going to make for the first meal of the season. I almost got the grill out for some brats one day, but then realized that they weren't brats at all, they were just glorified hot dogs that my wife inadvertently picked up from the store not realizing my disgust. They were certainly not going to be the first thing on the grill this year, they are meant for the microwave as far as I am concerned.

One day the mood hit me for a GOOD Italian Sausage. It would definitely be ok start to the grill, but it took me awhile to find one that was really tasty. I had bought a roll of sausage, it was 4 feet long I think, and cooked it for the staff. It was "ok." Then I went to one of my suppliers test kitchens and they made me one.

IT WAS AWESOME, and now I can't quit thinking about it. All of the flavors were there, and the seasoning of the sausage was right on. Plus the toppings that were with it, were just fantastic. I want another. And I am going to tell you how to do it also.

So if you haven't gotten the grill out yet, this could be a good meal to pull it out.

First, slice up some onions, and pepper. Wrap these up in some foil, with a little salt and olive oil, and set them over the heat on the grill. Start doing this a little ahead of time, as it will take a little while.

Next put your sausage on the grill to start cooking. Meanwhile take a "good" hoagie roll and butter the inside. If you can use garlic butter you will not be disappointed. Continue cooking your sausage until it is near done. Just before you take it off, toast your hoagie roll.

Now for the magic. Spread a little pizza/tomato sauce on the bun. Add the sausage, then the pepper/onion mix, and finally top it off with some mozzarella cheese, and eat away. You are going to love it.

And as far as the grill is concerned. It will be much happier knowing that you didn't throw a lousy hot dog on its grate for the first use of the year. That would be like waking up a bear from hibernation, just to give it a piece of lettuce. That bears going to be ticked.

1 comment:

Lynsey Grant said...

You had me at "pizza sauce" and "motzerella cheese."