“This dish is reserved only for freshly made Italian Luganica salsiccia, and no other type of sausage will do”, says our anonymous contributor of this recipe, “the key to this dish is cooking it slowly for a long period; at least three hours”.
The speciality sausage called Luganica is pork based and flavoured with a variety of herbs that may change according to the secret recipe of the sausage-maker. A variety of peppers are used to flavour the dish (green, red and yellow and sometimes a paprika pepper too!). The addition of chilli in this dish is optional but very much recommended.
If you are unable to find this salsiccia at your butcher or deli, pop past the Adriatic warehouse to pick some up.
Serves 4
- 2 cans chopped tomatoes
- 1 kg Italian Sausage (Luganica)
- Assorted peppers (paprika peppers may be used instead of red peppers for a bit of spice)
- 2 Onions
- 6 medium potatoes
- 1 chilli
- Olive oil
- Dried oregano
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius.
Peel and quarter the potatoes and peel the onions and slice them into wedges.
Place the onions, potatoes and sausage in a casserole dish and drizzle with olive oil.
Place the casserole dish in the preheated oven covered with the lid for 40 minutes.
In the meantime empty the tomato cans into a bowl and mix in the oregano, salt, pepper and chopped chilli and slice the peppers into medium sized strips.
Add the peppers and tomato mixture to the casserole dish and cook, covered and at the same temperature for one hour. Stir once at the half hour mark.
Remove the lid of the casserole and cook for another hour at 220 degrees or at 180 degrees if you feel it is drying out too quickly. As ovens vary, you will need to keep an eye on the dish. You are looking for a thick consistency in the tomatoes and soft, mushy potatoes that break when you mix them. Mix once or twice during this cooking period.
Adriatic Italian Food 
