Italian sausage sandwiches with peppers and onions near me

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I was well into my 20s when I found out that if you order a hot dog outside of Chicago, it will just be a steamed link in a bun, though the vendor may offer you things like sauerkraut or onions or relish or mustard. When you order a hot dog in Chicago, where I grew up, you have to specify what you don’t want on it, or else it will come with: sliced tomatoes, sport peppers, sweet relish, chopped white onions, a pickle, mustard and celery salt. It’s a balanced meal!

Other things you can order in Chicago: Italian beef (roasted beef, sliced very thin, dripping with juice and the flavor of onions and garlic), a Polish (Polish-style sausage in a bun with whatever you’d like) and an Italian sausage, with sweet onions and peppers, and hot pickled peppers or giardiniera on the side. One bite of that sandwich takes me back to lazy afternoons at Portillo’s, a Chicago mainstay, where my family would order a big mess of food and share orders of fries and onion rings. We’d debate the merits of each between sips of lemonade or soda, lots of giardiniera on the side.

Inspired by Chicago’s meaty sandwiches is this sheet-pan meal — which you could also make atop the stove, in a cast-iron skillet, if you wanted. Italian sausages — sweet or spicy, your choice — plus sliced bell peppers and yellow onions get doused with olive oil before they’re roasted in a hot oven until everything is cooked and a little browned. Then, stuff it all into your preferred bun — I like a crispy, crusty loaf; others might want something softer — and serve with pickled hot peppers, plus fries or chips, if you’d like.

It's a sheet-pan dinner that's filling and features a range of flavors — salty, spicy, tart and meaty — and it takes me back to the Chicago of my childhood every time.

Chicken or vegan “Italian-style” sausages work well for this. You know what also works surprisingly well? Carrots, cut into 7-inch sticks and then halved lengthwise, rubbed with olive oil, salt, pepper, dried parsley, dried oregano, garlic powder and ground fennel seed — plus chile flakes, if you like it hot. The sweetness and density of the carrots holds up really well in a bun!

If you don’t like onions or peppers, you could roast garlic cloves, still in their jackets, until they’re soft and squeeze the roasted garlic onto each bun. You could roast sliced fennel or kale leaves, letting them sweat and crisp on the sheet tray. Whole cherry tomatoes, chopped zucchini, some cute button mushrooms? All good options.

Where to Buy: Find sport peppers in the pickle section of your supermarket.

Storage: Leftovers can be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, preferably yellow, halved and sliced
• 2 bell peppers, any color, stemmed, seeded and sliced
• 1/3 cup or about 10 sport peppers (or other pickled pepper, such as pepperoncini)
• 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 5 to 6 sweet or spicy Italian sausages (about 1 1/2 pounds), uncooked in casings
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 to 6 submarine sandwich rolls or buns, split
• 4 to 8 slices Provolone (optional)
• Potato chips, for serving (optional)

Step 1

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees.

Place the onions, bell peppers and sport peppers on a large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt and toss until the vegetables are evenly coated. Nestle the sausages between the onions and peppers.

Step 2

Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the onions and peppers begin to caramelize. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Using tongs or a spatula, flip the sausages over and toss the onions and peppers so that they cook evenly. Return the baking sheet to the oven and roast for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until sausages are cooked through and onions and peppers are well browned in some places. Add the water and, using a wooden spatula, create a jus by stirring up some of the caramelized bits.

Step 3

Toast the sandwich rolls, if desired, and line them with Provolone, if using. Or, dip the split rolls into the pan juices. Divide the peppers, onions and sausages among the rolls, spooning on some of the pan juices, if desired. Serve hot.

Nutrition Information

Per serving (1 sandwich), based on 4

Calories: 603; Total Fat: 28 g; Saturated Fat: 7 g; Cholesterol: 75 mg; Sodium: 1330 mg; Carbohydrates: 45 g; Dietary Fiber: 3 g; Sugars: 7 g; Protein: 37 g.

This analysis is an estimate based on available ingredients and this preparation. It should not substitute for a dietitian’s or nutritionist’s advice.

From staff writer G. Daniela Galarza.

Tested by G. Daniela Galarza; email questions to .

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