I’ve been in search of a source for locally raised, high quality, all-natural chicken for awhile, and thanks to a friend, I found my source: Boulder Natural Meats. As they say on their website, there are very few producers of poultry in Colorado, and before they began their operation in 1985, 99% of all poultry consumed in Colorado came from outside the state – often outside the country. You can read more about Boulder Natural Meats here. I’ve been getting whole chickens from them, organized for a group of us by a friend of mine who is involved in Slow Food on a national level. But the best thing is that I recently discovered their chicken sausage.One of the more simple, yet healthy, dishes to make with sausage is just simmering the links with peppers and onions in marinara sauce. For those of you on gluten-free, paleo, or low-carb diets, just eat these babies slathered with the cooked peppers and onions and call it lunch.Alternatively, you can remove the sausages before serving, roughly chop the sauce in a food processor, then serve the sauce and sliced sausages over pasta. Sprinkle on a little extra Parmesan and some fresh basil, and dig in!
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 sweet peppers (red, yellow, or orange), sliced
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 4 cups marinara sauce
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil leaves
- 4 chicken sausage links
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (plus more for serving)
- Fresh basil, for garnish
- Heat the olive oil in a large skilled over medium high heat and add the peppers and onions. Cook until slightly softened, about 5-10 minutes. Add the marinara sauce and the chopped basil and stir together, then pour into a 13 x 9 x 2-inch casserole dish. Nestle the sausage links into the pepper sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees until the sausages are cooked through, about 30-45 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil and Parmesan and serve alone or over cooked pasta.