Roasted Sausage and Potatoes with Peppers

Who can resist a great-tasting sausage bake? Especially with Italian sausages. You might be surprised to see that in this recipe, the potatoes are parboiled and the rest of the ingredients start in a frying pan before getting roasted in the oven. That's where the taste transformation from ordinary to extraordinary is complete.

2 lb baby red potatoes, cut into 1-1½" pieces
1 onion, sliced into thick half circles
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1" pieces
8 oz smoked sausage or Kielbasa, cut into 1" pieces
8 oz fresh mushrooms, such as baby Bella or white button, cut in half or quarters
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. fresh thyme
1 Tbsp. spice/dry herbs blend
sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground

Garnish:
fresh herbs, such as parsley, thyme, chives, dill, chopped

Preheat the oven to 475°F (245°C/225°C fan, Gas Mark 9) (I used the convection setting on my oven, although if you don't have that option, it will still work.). Place a large rimmed baking sheet into the oven at the same time, so that it heats up while you are prepping all the ingredients.

Scrub the potatoes really well and cut them into 1-1½" pieces. Place them into a medium pot and fill it with water, so that the water is just barely covering the potatoes. Bring it to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes, covered, just until the potatoes are halfway cooked through. Drain the potatoes.

Meanwhile, cut the mushrooms in half or in quarters if they are very large. Slice the onions into thick half circles. Cut the bell pepper into 1" pieces and slice the sausage into 1" pieces.

In a large bowl, combine the onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, olive oil, minced garlic, fresh thyme, salt, black pepper and a mixture of dry herbs.

When the potatoes are halfway cooked, gently toss them with the mushroom and pepper mixture, along with the sausage.

Take out the searingly hot baking sheet from the oven and quickly spread everything out in one layer.

Roast in the preheated oven, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes, until the vegetables are all cooked through and golden brown, turning everything over halfway through cooking. You can broil the dish during the last few minutes of cooking to give it extra brownness and a slight char.

Garnish with fresh herbs, such as parsley, thyme, chives, dill, etc.

Cook's Notes: 

• Make Ahead: Prep all the ingredients, without placing them onto the baking sheet. Store in the refrigerator up to 2 days. When you are ready to serve, preheat the oven with the rimmed baking sheet in it and then proceed with the rest of the steps.
• You can use any cooked sausage that you like. I buy my sausage from a local Polish store, where they make their own sausage. It is SO delicious. The sausage that I used this time had a really smoky flavour, so it gave that same smoky flavour to the rest of the vegetables. However, you can use any kind of sausage that you prefer.