Roast Italian sausages, potatoes, peppers for flavourful one-pan supper

Traybakes are a great dinner solution when you can’t or won’t spend time at the stove-top. With this mostly hands-off technique, the ingredients are combined on a single baking sheet then roasted in the oven.

In this recipe from the book Cook What You Have, which utilises pantry staples to create easy, weeknight meals, savoury Italian sausages are cooked atop potatoes, onions, and bell peppers, allowing the meaty juices to flavour the vegetables.

Begin by tossing potatoes, onion, and bell pepper with oil, oregano or rosemary, salt, and pepper. Spread them evenly on a baking sheet and roast until slightly softened. Pierce sausages and place them atop the partly cooked vegetables. Return to oven until sausages are cooked and vegetables are tender and lightly browned.

To complete the dish, drizzle a blend of vinegar and honey over the hot vegetables, scraping up the browned bits on the sheet pan to create a tangy-sweet and savoury glaze. Slice the sausages diagonally and mix with the vegetables, or serve them whole alongside. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired.

SAUSAGE, POTATO AND SWEET PEPPER TRAYBAKE

Start to finish: 1 hour

Servings: 4 to 6 persons

INGREDIENTS

1lb Yukon Gold OR russet OR red potatoes, cut into ½-inch wedges

1 medium red OR yellow onion, halved and sliced about ½ inch thick

1 medium red OR orange OR yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and sliced about ½ inch thick

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon dried oregano OR dried rosemary

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

1½ pounds sweet OR hot Italian sausages OR other fresh sausages, poked in several places with a paring knife

¼ cup white wine vinegar OR red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

3 tablespoons rinsed and drained capers OR ¼ cup pitted green OR black olives, roughly chopped

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 450°F with a rack in the middle position. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss together the potatoes, onion, bell pepper, oil, oregano, and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper then distribute in an even layer. Roast until the vegetables begin to soften and brown, 18 to 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through.

Remove from the oven and stir the vegetables again then arrange the sausages on top. Continue to roast until the centres of the sausages reach 160°F and the vegetables are tender and lightly browned, another 20 to 25 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the vinegar and honey.

When the sausages are done, transfer them to a cutting board, leaving the vegetables in the pan. Pour the vinegar mixture over the vegetables and stir, scraping up any browned bits. Add the capers and toss then taste and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving dish.

Cut the sausages on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces then add to the vegetables and toss. Alternatively, serve the sausages whole with the vegetables alongside.

Optional garnish: Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley