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italian sausage sandwiches with spicy grilled peppers and fennel onion mustard

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Italian "Sausage" Sandwiches with Spicy Grilled Peppers and Fennel-Onion Mustard

When I was a child growing up in Denver, Colorado, it was a tradition to attend and help out at an annual Italian fair. The fair, which is still a North Denver institution, is called St. Rocco's Feast, and it is sponsored by the Societa di Nativi di Potenza, a fraternal social club whose members are descendants of immigrants from Potenza, Basilicata,

Ingredients

  • 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 fennel bulb, stalks and core removed, roughly chopped
  • 1 large onion, roughly chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds, ground
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon fennel pollen or freshly ground fennel seed
  • 1 pinch salt to taste
  • 2 shallots
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 1/2 ounces pancetta
  • 1 teaspoon rosemary, finely chopped
  • 3 teaspoons sage, finely chopped
  • 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes, finely chopped
  • 2 teaspoons fennel pollen or freshly ground fennel seed
  • 3 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
  • 1 pound pork (not too lean and preferably sourced from a butcher)
  • 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil
  • 6 hamburger buns, preferably whole grain
  • 6 Italian frying peppers (sometimes called Cubanelle peppers) or other slightly spicy peppers
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, more to taste

Directions

  • Heat a large sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil. When oil is warm, add fennel and onion to pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables have softened and edges have just started to brown. Add minced garlic to pan. After a minute or so, when garlic starts to release its aroma, adjust heat to low and add vinegar to pan—the mixture will sizzle for a minute. Continue to cook until there is only a tablespoon or two of liquid left in the pan and vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and let vegetables cool for about 15 minutes.
  • Add vegetable mixture and any remaining liquid to a blender. Add ground mustard seeds, thyme, 2 tablespoons water, Dijon mustard, and fennel pollen to the blender. Begin blending the mixture. With motor running, drizzle in remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add additional water a tablespoon at a time if mixture is too thick and isn't puréeing easily. Depending on how powerful your blender motor is, you may want to purée mixture in batches. I found that it worked well for my blender to divide the mixture into two batches. Continue blending until the mixture resembles a smooth purée.
  • Taste the mustard, and add salt 1/2 teaspoon at a time until the flavor is balanced. If the mustard does not taste sufficiently mustardy, add additional cider vinegar a teaspoon at a time until the flavor tastes right.
  • Remove the mustard from blender and put in serving bowl. Cover and refrigerate while you cook peppers and sandwiches. Mustard will keep in fridge for several weeks.
  • For the "sausage" and pepper sandwiches
  • Chop shallots, garlic, and pancetta as finely as you can. In a large mixing bowl, add the first eight ingredients (shallots through thyme) and mix well with a wooden spoon. Add 1 teaspoon salt and the pork to the bowl and gently separate the pork strands with your fingers. Gently mix everything together with your hands until the pork is coated with seasonings.
  • Test the pork mixture by pan-frying a miniature patty: Form one tablespoon-sized ball of meat with your fingers. Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat and add grapeseed oil to pan. When oil is hot, flatten sausage ball slightly and add to pan. Cook for about 1 1/2 minutes per side, or until meat has developed a golden crust. Remove mini-patty from pan and let rest for a minute or two. Taste to judge if seasonings should be adjusted. Add a little more salt to the meat in the mixing bowl if needed. If the mini-patty doesn't taste spicy enough, add more crushed red pepper to bowl. If the herbal flavors aren't coming through very strongly, add more rosemary, sage, and thyme to the bowl.
  • Divide the rest of the meat into six portions. Form each portion into a large ball. Place on a cookie sheet or large plate and refrigerate.
  • If you have a charcoal grill, light the coals. If you have a gas grill, as I do, light the grill and turn up the heat to medium-high. If you have some mesquite wood chips, put some of them in your smoker box. While grill is heating, remove stems from peppers, slice them in half, and remove seeds. Brush outside of pepper halves with 1 tablespoon or so of olive oil.
  • When grill is hot (about 500° F), oil the grill's cooking rack. Add peppers to the rack and cover the grill. Grill peppers for about 3 to 4 minutes per side until the peppers have some nice charring. It is not necessary for the peppers to be totally blackened. Remove the peppers and put them in a bowl to continue steaming. Cover with a tea towel.
  • Remove the pork balls from the fridge. Slightly flatten each one with your hand or a spatula until it resembles a thick hamburger patty. Grill each patty for about 4 to 5 minutes per side until the outside of the patties are nice and golden and the insides are cooked to a light pink. I usually cut one patty and take a peek inside to see if it's done. Do not overcook—pork that's too well done gets tough very quickly! Remove patties from heat and let them rest for about five minutes.
  • While the meat is resting, brush the insides of each bun with the remaining tablespoon or so of olive oil. Grill buns on the warming rack until they are a lovely golden brown. Remove peppers from the bowl and put them on a platter. Remove the skin and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon sea salt.
  • Put a bun on each diner's plate. Spread some fennel-onion mustard on the insides of the buns. Top with a meat patty and one or two slices of grilled pepper. Serve with an ice cold beer or a glass of lemonade. Enjoy, and dine al fresco if you can!

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