Italian Sausage and Rice Skillet

Whether you’re mixing it into pasta, tossing it in a breakfast skillet or popping it on a pizza, Italian sausage is a versatile ingredient that can become the main attraction in almost any dish. We've used the classic combo of garlic, peppers and onions to add flavors that compliment perfectly prepared sausage links. Without much prep, this one skillet dinner idea will make for an easy finish to your long day.

The Ingredients

• Three (3) teaspoons olive oil
• Three (3) assorted bell peppers, diced
• Two (2) medium white onions, diced
• One (1) spiral Italian sausage link (1 lb)
• Three (3) garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp oregano, minced
• Rice (1 ½ cups)
• Water (2 ½ cups)
• One (1) can diced tomatoes (14.5 ounce size, not drained)
• 1 tbsp Salt
• 1/2 tbsp Pepper
• 1/2 cup Italian Parsley, diced
• 1 medium fresh Tomato, diced

The Steps

1. First, preheat your 12-inch Stargazer cast iron skillet over low heat for 5 minutes.  Once preheated, turn the heat up to medium and add the olive oil. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place sausage spiral in center of skillet sear over medium heat. Brown only, do not cook fully - approximately 3 minutes on each side. Remove sausage from skillet and set aside.
3. In the same skillet, sauté diced peppers and onions over medium heat. Once mixture begins to soften and onions become clear, add minced garlic and oregano - approximately 10 minutes. Add rice, water and can of diced tomatoes (not drained). Bring to a boil, and then let simmer for 5 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add sausage back to skillet, nestling the link down into the rice and vegetable mixture. Move skillet to oven and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
5. Finish with diced parsley and fresh diced tomato.

Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 50 min Serves: 4-6