Sausage and pepper tomato sauce

I haven't been posting for lack of cooking. As a result, much of what was already in the haul last week was still in the fridge, but thankfully still edible. We seemed to have accumulated quite a few peppers over the course of a couple of weeks - a red one, a green one, a light green one, and a few small orange ones - and something had to be done with them before all of their crisp gorgeousness turned to brown mush in the crisper. We also had three tomatoes that were miraculously still firm and edible from last week, as well.

To use them all - and give us a few leftovers for the freezer, as I'm sure this new "going to work every day" thing is going to cut into my cooking time (not to mention that horrid commute home on the 401) - I made a large batch of sausage and pepper tomato sauce. It's a riff on sausage and peppers that, if I may say so, was delicious. Not necessarily a weeknight dish - it did take about 40 or so minutes to cook - but a great way to use up peppers. Here's what I threw together; feel free to change the proportions based on whatever you have on hand.

Sausage and Pepper Tomato Sauce
makes approximately 6 servings

1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large red pepper, sliced into long strips
1 large green pepper, sliced into long strips
1 large light green pepper, sliced into long strips
3 small orange peppers, sliced into long strips
1/2 large Spanish onion, sliced into strips
1 lb hot Italian sausage, cut into 1" pieces
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
salt to taste

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large non-stick saute pan. When the oil is hot, add the peppers and onions. Sprinkle with salt. Stir occasionally until they are soft and browned.

Meanwhile, add a dab of olive oil to a large stainless steel skillet. Cook the sausage pieces through, moving only occasionally so that they get nicely browned and a fond (little brown bits that aren't burned) develops in the pan. Remove when cooked through and put on a paper towel to drain. Pour out the remaining fat; return to heat. Add the garlic to the pan; cook 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add the tomatoes. The juice in the tomatoes will allow you to deglaze the pan; scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pan. Add salt, and cook the tomatoes until they have broken down, stirring occasionally. Add the sausage back to the pan.

The peppers and onions will be done at approximately the same time as the tomato-sausage mixture. When they are suitably soft, add them to the pan with the tomatoes and sausage. Don't worry - they will have cooked down considerably, and it will all fit into the large skillet. Turn the heat to low, and continue to simmer while you cook the pasta. Add salt to taste.