Italian Sausage and Pepper Sliders

Italian Sausage and Peppers

My Chicken Taco Sliders were popular with my husband and my followers.  I also loved them. Tasty, easy to make, inexpensive and tasted great as leftovers-what’s not to love?

In my other life, I am a teacher and the school year is looming in my future. We officially start on the 6^th of August, but I’m going in next week. My days are filled with anxiety and 1,000 appointments this time of year. The last thing I want to do is fret over dinner or spend too much money. So, I decided to make more sliders.

Sausage with peppers are one of my favorite meals. I like serving them with tomato gravy over rice. Turns out sausage and peppers make great sliders, too. You could add chopped, seeded tomatoes if you want. You can also use spicy sausage.

Servings: 12 sliders

Time:  Active time 20 minutes; Cook: 50 Minutes, Sandwiches in about an hour

Hardware:  A cutting board and knives, measuring cups and spoons, 2 bowls, a microwave safe bowl, a serrated knife, a silicone spatula, tongs, a wooden spoon, a pastry brush, a skillet, an 8x11.5 glass baking dish, and foil

Ingredients

• 1-12 pack of King’s Hawaiian Rolls
• 1 stick of butter
• Olive oil for the bottom of the skillet
• 1 bell pepper (8 ounces)-I used orange, green and red baby bells for color
• 1 small onion (4 ounces)
• 1-pound bulk Italian sausage
• ½ pound ground pork
• ⅓ cup mayo
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasonings
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup shredded provolone cheese
• ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper.

1. Melt the butter in the microwave safe bowl. Preheat the oven to 350˚.
2. Roughly chop the onions and pepper into small chunks. Heat the oil over medium. Cook the peppers and onions until they are the desired tenderness. Remove them to the bowl. In the same, pan cook the sausage and pork until they are no longer pink. Make sure to crumble the meat while you are cooking. This took me 15 minutes. Your cooking time may be different.
3. Mix the mayo, mustard, seasonings, and the Parmesan cheese until thoroughly combined. Generously add black pepper. Mix in the meat. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.
4. With a large, serrated knife cut the rolls in half horizontally. Don’t separate the rolls. You are creating one large top slab and one large bottom slab.
5. Lay a large piece of foil in the bottom of the baking dish. Place the bottom of the bread on the foil. Spread the sausage mixture evenly over the bread. Make sure to not pile all the meat in the middle but spread it evenly over the bread. Top the sausage with the peppers and onions. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the peppers, again making sure that it is evenly spread. Top with the other ‘half’ of the bread. Pour the butter evenly over the sliders. Use the pastry brush to make sure all the bread is covered in butter. Seal the foil closed. You may need another sheet of foil. Bake for 25 minutes.
6. Allow the sliders to rest for 2-3 minutes. Following the outline of the top buns, slice into 12 sliders.
7. Serve warm.