Pre-packaged chicken sausage from the supermarket is always an easy protein to cook for dinner. I sauteéd some sliced onions and peppers to mix in, topped it all with part-skim mozzarella cheese and our high-protein dinner was good to go in under 15 minutes!
This Italian sausage-and-pepper sandwich is lower in fat and higher in protein than most Italian sausage-and-pepper sandwiches because I used low fat chicken sausage and part-skim mozzarella. I used Al Fresco Roasted Pepper and Asiago Chicken Sausage, which I found in Wal-Mart. (I usually use Al Fresco’s “Sweet Italian” sausage for this purpose. I hate Asiago cheese, but I enjoyed the flavor of these sausages. Recommend!)
Store-bought submarine sandwich rolls will work fine and save you a ton of effort. I made my own rolls because family’s totally addicted to homemade bread (SO AM I). I decided to try my hand at making a “heart-healthier” Wonder Bread type of sandwich roll. If you’re gonna do this, plan ahead: It takes 1 hour of rising time and about 7 minutes of kneading.
Italian Sausage & Pepper Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 onion (thinly sliced)
- 1 red bell pepper (thinly sliced)
- 1 green bell pepper (thinly sliced)
- 1 pound chicken sausage
- 4 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Optional Homemade Sandwich Rolls
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- ¼ cup lukewarm water
- ½ cup lukewarm skim milk
- 1 tablespoon canola oil (or other neutral-flavored oil)
- 2 tablespoon skim milk for brushing on top
Instructions
- Preheat the broiler on "high". Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or aluminum foil lightly coated with nonstick spray.
- Cut open four rolls and arrange the rolls on the prepared baking sheet.
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.
- Add the onions and peppers to the skillet and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft. (Putting to lid on the skillet will soften the vegetables a bit quicker.)
- Transfer the cooked vegetables to a plate.
- Spritz the same skillet lightly with nonstick spray, and cook the sausage until browned.
- Put one of the cooked sausages on top of each roll. Top with the onion/pepper mixture, and sprinkle shredded cheese on top of the veggies.
- Broil the sandwiches on "high" for about 2 to 3 minutes, until the cheese bubbles.
Optional Homemade Sandwich Rolls
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and sugar.
- In a small bowl, combine the yeast with ¼ cup lukewarm water. The water should feel neither hot nor cold to the touch. Let the yeast sit about 5 minutes, until dissolved.
- Microwave ½ cup of skim milk for about 10 seconds, until lukewarm. The milk should feel neither hot nor cold to the touch.
- Combine the milk, the water/yeast mixture and 1 tablespoon of oil with a whisk.
- Pour the water/milk/oil mixture into the bowl with the flour/salt/sugar mixture.
- Stir together until a dough forms. You may need to add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough reaches the consistency of play dough.
- Lightly spray a clean work surface with nonstick spray and knead the dough for about 7 minutes. You will feel the dough become stretchy and pliable as you work.
- Put the dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Put the bowl in a warm spot (I like to stash it in a turned-off oven) for an hour or so.
- Let the dough sit until it doubles in size (this takes about 1 hour)
- Preheat the oven to 400 °F (if you let the dough rise in the oven, TAKE THE DOUGH OUT OF THE OVEN BEFORE TURNING IT ON!)
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or aluminum foil (be sure to spray the aluminum foil with nonstick spray; bread will stick to the foil otherwise.)
- Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour or nonstick spray to prevent sticking.
- Divide the dough into four equal parts. Roll each dough portion into a ball. Use the prepared work surface to roll the dough ball into a cylindrical shape.
- Place each cylinder-shaped piece of dough on the prepared baking sheet, and brush lightly with skim milk.
- Bake the rolls at 400 °F for about 15 minutes.
