Are you tired of having to spend time prepping all the separate ingredients of a truly righteous sausage pepper and onion grinder?

Do you fear being crushed under an avalanche of dirty dishes when it comes time to clean up after the meal?

Fear not!

Behold ...

The One Pan Sausage, Pepper & Onion Extravaganza (with a Spud-tastic Suprise inside)

Step 1: Ingredients

I went with 6 Russet potatoes (mostly because that was what we had in the pantry) but you can use any spud of your choosing

one large white onion

three bell peppers

one package mild Italian sausage

one package hot Italian sausage

Step 2: Prep

before I detail each delicious layer of yummy goodness .. i just need to say ... all hail the mighty mandolin slicer :) It makes food prep so easy.

apply a light coat of olive oil to the pan

layer in your potato slices to cover the bottom of the pan (can you think of a better way to soak up all the flavor as it drips down through the layers?)

generously distribute your assorted peppers for maximum color enhancement

layer in the onions ... or as I like to call it .. the sausage suspension system

and now .. the final piece of the puzzle ... the sausage. Don't be afraid to cram the pieces in tightly, remember there will be shrinkage during cooking.

Step 3: Cooking

Set your oven to 375 degrees

Cover the pan with foil

Bake for an hour and 40 minutes

Uncover the pan

Bake for one more hour

Step 4: Enjoy

Now comes the hard part .... deciding how you want to serve your meal.

Do you delicately disassemble your creation and serve each tasty layer in its own glory?

OR

Do you just ladle a heaping spoonful of heaven into a roll, top it with some steaming hot tomato sauce and chow down?

Choose your path ... AND ENJOY!!!

Step 5: Food Science

Sensory Analysis (Affective Testing) - Also known as consumer testing, this type of testing is concerned with obtaining subjective data, or how well products are likely to be accepted.

Using a focus group of 8 people covering the ages 2 to 55 demographic I was able to obtain the following reaction results

very flavorful .. especially the potatoes
*two thumbs up*
Terrific
Scrumptions
Delicious
Thanks for cooking so I didn't have to
yummy
it was very good .. thank you

Food Physics – the physical aspects of foods (such as viscosity, creaminess, and texture)

By baking the dish uncovered for the last hour, the sausages browned nicely. There was a 15-20% size reduction, which is to be expected.
The peppers and onions softened nicely but retained more of their flavor than i was expecting.
by far the nicest surprise of the dish had to be the potatoes. Because of their location at the base of the dish they soaked in an amazing blend of flavors.