For the longest time I always thought sausage came in two ways - either cased like a "sausage" or else in a patty. You could mix it with tomatoes to create nice gravy for your spaghetti, grill it to enjoy with peppers and onions, pan sear it for breakfast, or whatever. It was not until about a year and a half ago that I discovered Sausage Fatty. Google it, it is a real thing that can inspire much cooking creativity.

This weekend I competed with the Andy King and The Bastey Boys in a BBQ Cooking Contest at the Harvard Fall Festival  in Harvard, MA. There were two sausage contests; People’s Choice and New England BBQ Society (NEBS) Grilling. The past two years I have entered these events using a homemade sausage from the Sausage Lady on Rt. 27 Hanson. I would buy her Smoked Provolone & Roasted Red Pepper sausage and grill it, with excellent results.

After learning about Sausage Fatty I decided to go with that for both People’s Choice and the NEBS Grilling. For the People’s Choice, I made a small version. The entry was to be no more than 1 foot long and we had to fill a half pan. Sweet Italian sausage made by Piantedosi’s Butcher Shop in North Plymouth was used. The first thing to do was roast a few peppers. My fondness for poblano peppers led me to them first, along with red bell peppers and hot Italian peppers.

After roasting, skinning and cutting them to 1/8” strips I rolled the uncased sausage flat to a 12” square. Then I dusted the sausage with my rub. I cut the flattened sausage to 6”x 12“ to create two pieces. Then two alternating rows of roasted peppers were laid out in a line.

Once the peppers were lined up I rolled the sausage up to create a "jelly roll". This was dusted with rub, painted with rendered bacon fat and maple syrup, then placed in a smoker for about an hour and a half at about 250° using hickory smoke. (I usually use New England Apple).

When they were done, I painted them again with rendered bacon fat and maple syrup and cut them into the 1” pieces.

Yes, the people have had their say. I took First Place for People’s Choice Sausage.

This is a relatively easy process that you can do at home. Geez, I did it outside under a canopy after spending a cold night in a tent. The sausage fatty can be stuffed with anything you can imagine. I am thinking of stuffing the next one with spinach, roasted red peppers and ricotta cheese then topping with a nice red gravy. (I got this idea from Bertucci’s Sporkie Pizza).

Come to think of it, I might make one of each, a Sporkie and a Stella – Roasted eggplant, roasted portabella mushrooms, mozzarella cheese and fresh basil wrapped in my favorite sausage and smoked on my grill. Wait maybe I will make a…