Italian Pepper Casserole

[Granny Smith]

I made this one up today, incorporating the tastes of the Italian sandwiches they sell at our local fairs.

Italian Pepper Casserole

1/2 pound elbow macaroni, cooked, drained, and cooled
1 package Italian sausages (4 or 5), casing removed and cut into hunks
I large bell pepper, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
salt
pepper
Mozzarella cheese (or bread crumbs mixed with a little parmesan OR soft bread crumbs dotted with butter, if you prefer)

In medium skillet, cook sausages until browned.

Meanwhile, saute onion and pepper in another skillet until tender.

Remove sausage from skillet and sprinkle in some flour (enough to absorb most of the oil). Cook and stir about 1 minute. Add diced tomatoes and cook until mixture thickens. If it gets too thick, add up to half a can of water. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Place noodles in a casserole. Stir in sausage, tomato mixture, and onion/pepper mixture. Top with mozzarella (or alternate topping) and bake at 350 degrees until bubbly and brown.

[gayla]

this looks so good Gayle . I need to defrost some sausage .

[Granny Smith]

Gayla, I made this last night and hubby loved it! He's not usually big on casseroles, but he complimented me several times on this one. I made it up with him in mind. He loves those Italian Sausage sandwiches at the fair.

[Granny Smith]

I made this last weekend, but used a pound of regular breakfast sausage, instead of Italian sausage. So it would taste the same, I added 1/2 t. of fennel seed and 1/4 t. of red pepper flakes to the sausage when I was browning it. (I had mild sausage) You couldn't tell the difference! Since Italian sausage is $4 a pound and breakfast sausage is just $1 - $1.25 (on sale), this is a decent savings.

I also used Swiss cheese, instead of Mozzarella. Dan and the kids loved it, but it was a little strong for me. I might try it with half Swiss and half Mozzarella next time.