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This dish is easy to make, has so much flavor, keeps well in the fridge, and reheats beautifully.

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If you can’t make your own chicken sausage, store-bought is fine. Buying specialty sausage takes absolutely no time and no effort … how easy is that? But don’t tell Jeffrey; I want to surprise him.

(You could make this recipe work with nearly any kind of sausages by changing up the wine and cheese.)

What You Need for 4 Servings:

2 lbs. chicken cordon bleu sausage, pricked all over viciously with a fork
5 Tbs olive oil (extra-virgin if you’re a real priss), plus more for brushing
1 lb. pasta: gemelli, rigatoni, angel hair, whatever works for you
8-9 oz. mini bell peppers, various colors, cut into ½-inch dice
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 small fennel bulb—trimmed, cored and thinly sliced
Something with heat: 4 serrano chiles, 1 habanero chile, ½-tsp red pepper flakes, etc.
Salt and pepper
1 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
½ cup freshly grated cheese (3 ounces): pecorino, parmesan, Swiss … whatever you prefer

How to Do It:

Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta.

Prep a grill. I used a Cuisinart Griddler, but use whatever you want/have. While the grill’s heating up, you can get out a brush and use it to lightly oil up the sausages, or you can just pour a little oil into your palm and run the sausages through your hands one at a time. (You may feel like you need some privacy as you do this. I get that.) Grill the sausages for about 8 minutes, or until just barely cooked through.

Multitask the pasta as you go along, cooking it to al dente.

Set a large cast-iron skillet over a medium-high flame (or on the grill, if you’re doing this outside) and add 3 Tbs of olive oil. Once the oil reaches the sizzle point, add the peppers, onion, fennel and “something with heat,” and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened to your liking, about 12-15 minutes. Season with salt and taste for heat. Add the sausages and wine to the skillet and simmer until the wine has reduced by half, about 4-6 minutes. Off heat. Sprinkle half of the pecorino cheese over the sausage and peppers. Cover the skillet or tent it with foil, to encourage the cheese to melt.

Toss the pasta with 2 Tbs. oil, plus plenty of salt and pepper.

Serve the pasta side by side with the peppers and sausage, or mix it all together.

Spicy Chicken Cordon Bleu Sausages with Three Peppers

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Credits for all images on this page: Make It Like a Man! Hover over images and/or green text for more information. Click if you want. This post was not sponsored or solicited by anyone, including International Natural Sausage Casing Association, National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, or International Powerlifting Organization, even though, if you ask me, it should have been.

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