This recipe, from Chef Gino D'Acampo's Pronto cookbook, was a huge hit with my kids. I’m sharing it as a family-friendly dinner idea for you to try.
Also, two of my top freezer staples are homemade tomato sauce and croutons. Having these on hand makes preparing this recipe even easier.
1 ciabatta loaf or other bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (3 to 4 cups or as you like) — or homemade croutons
6 tablespoons olive oil
4 sprigs of thyme
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2 rosemary stalks
10 Italian pork sausages
2 x 14-ounce cans cherry tomatoes, chopped tomatoes — or 3 1/2 cups homemade tomato sauce
1/2 cup pitted black olives in brine or oil, drained
5 tablespoons freshly chopped flatleaf parsley
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Put the ciabatta cubes on a baking tray. Drizzle over 2 tablespoons of olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle over thyme leaves. Toss everything together and place in the oven for 15 minutes, until crispy.
Meanwhile, cut the peppers in half (discard the green stem, membrane, and seeds), and roughly slice.
Heat a medium saucepan on high. Pour the remaining oil into the pan, add the garlic, peppers, and rosemary, and fry for 3 minutes. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon.
While the peppers cook, remove the sausage from the casings and make 3 small meatballs per sausage. Set aside.
Pour the tomatoes into the saucepan with the peppers and bring to a boil. Add the sausage meatballs to the sauce, gently stir, and cook for 13 minutes, uncovered. Stir occasionally.
Once the meatballs are cooked, season with salt and pepper. Finally, stir the olives and parsley into the stew and serve immediately with the delicious croutons.
You can learn more about making croutons here — it's handy to make a batch and store them in the freezer.
