Red Gold Peppers in Tomato Sauce

A while back, the nice folks at Red Gold Tomatoes sent me a variety pack of their tomatoes to try out.  I'm hooked.  We celebrated my Dad's 77th birthday this past weekend.  We had the whole family over for a home cooked meal, and I decided I would use the opportunity to experiment with some more of Red Gold's products.  I made their Caribbean Chicken Burger a while back, but this time I wanted to come up with my very own recipe.  My Dad is a meat and potatoes guy.  He doesn't go for fancy stuff, so I knew I'd be keeping the meal pretty straightforward.  I served assorted grilled sausages, Homemade Macaroni and Cheese (recipe coming soon), Sweet and Sour Green Beans 

from Christy Jordan's Southern Plate Cookbook, and for dessert: Spiced Peach Pie with Crumb Topping from my pal Michaela over at An Affair From The Heart.  When we lived in Nebraska, I used to buy these jars of peppers in a tangy tomato sauce.  We ate them with hot dogs and grilled sausages all of the time.  I can't find them around here, so I decided I would attempt to duplicate that recipe.  Not only did I duplicate it, I think I came up with something better: Red Gold Peppers in Tomato Sauce!

Don't have sausages or hot dogs without it!

Saute peppers, onions and garlic in olive oil.
Season with kosher salt and herbs.

Add cooked peppers to Red Gold Tomato Sauce
and simmer.

This would be delicious with pasta too!
Or serve along side your favorite meat course.

Red Gold Peppers in Tomato Sauce

4-5 tablespoons olive oil
6-7 green bell peppers, sliced
3-4 red bell peppers, sliced
6 hot banana peppers (more or less depending on desired heat level) chopped
3-4 onions, sliced
one head garlic, minced
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 (29 ounce) cans Red Gold Tomato Sauce
1 teaspoon granulated sugar

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil.  Once the oil is hot add the sliced peppers, onions and garlic.  Sprinkle with salt, oregano, basil and parsley.  Stir often until peppers are almost to the texture you desire in the finished product.  This should take about 15-20 minutes or more.  Make sure to stir often so garlic does not burn.  Meanwhile, in a large pot heat the two cans of tomato sauce.  Add 1 teaspoon of sugar to the sauce.  When peppers and onions are desired texture, spoon mixture into the tomato sauce.  Be sure and scrape the skillet and get all of the oil and herbs.  This is where the flavor is.  Stir well.  Heat to boiling, this reduce heat and allow to simmer 5 minutes.  Serve with pasta, sausages or as a topping for hot dogs.  This can be made a day ahead and reheated.

Prep Time:  Approximately 25 minutes     Cook Time:  Approximately 30 minutes

NOTE:  Use gloves when preparing the peppers, especially the hot banana peppers.  I have never known them to be a particularly hot pepper, but the oils from them really burned my hand.  When I looked on my Chili Pepper Scoville Poster, the hot banana peppers were actually just a few notches below habanero.  The finished sauce wasn't too hot using 6 banana peppers but it did have a kick.  Adjust the amount of hot banana peppers you use according to your taste.

I'm actually thinking of playing around with this recipe and canning some for holiday gifts.  It's that good!