Black-Eyed Pea Stew With Sausage Recipe
Servings: 10 - 12 servings
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 2½ pounds hot and/or sweet Italian sausage
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1 red bell pepper seeded, sliced and diced
- ½ fennel bulb diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced fine
- 14 ounce can chopped tomatoes drained
- 2 cups dried black-eyed peas
- 4 cups chicken stock homemade is great but commercial is good too
- 3 cups water t
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 bunch cilantro
Instructions
- You can start by preparing your ingredients (mise en place). This is how the pros do it, making the entire job much more manageable. This means chopping and dicing your vegetables, rinsing the black-eyed peas, and ensuring no little stones are in them.
- Heat up a large soup pot or one of those nice cast iron casserole pots if you have one on medium high heat.
- Add the oil and wait until it gets hot enough to shimmer but not smoke.
- Add the sausages and cook until they are brown on the outside and cooked through on the inside. This should take about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the sausages from the pot and transfer to a large plate or bowl.
- Brown the onion, bell pepper, fennel, and garlic in the same pot. The sausage should have enough oil and fat to cook them nicely. Be sure to move the vegetables around so they don't burn. Depending on your stove top and pot, this should take 5 to 8 minutes.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and let them cook down for about 5 minutes.
- Add the washed black-eyed peas, chicken stock, and water. Bring this to a boil, cover partially, reduce heat, and simmer until the black-eyed peas become tender. This can take 1¼ hours to 1½ hours.
- Slice the reserved sausage on the diagonal into ½ inch slices and add them to the pot. Be sure to add the accumulated juices from the sausages on the plate. It adds lots of additional flavor.
- Taste the stew and add the salt and pepper to taste.
- Chop and add about ¼ cup of fresh cilantro to the pot and simmer for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Stew is ready.
Notes
I served this stew in bowls but first added a slice of Italian bread to the bottom of the bowl. The kids like having bread in the bowl and everyone enjoyed the stew. Be sure to garnish the top with some of the leftover cilantro leaves. I've been eating this stew for lunch for the past couple of days and it seems to get better and better.
Happy New Year and May the New Year Bring You Prosperity.