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Postseason Perfection: Step Up Your Grilling Game

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This sausage hoagie is so perfect in so many ways, and everything is cooked on the grill.

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TONY ‘FATSO' SICILIANO

Tribune correspondent

Published: January 15, 2009

Football season is rapidly coming to a close, as the pros jockey for the Lombardi Trophy. For some fans the only action they care about will happen inside the stadium between the lines. But for a guy like myself, sure I keep a watchful eye on the game, but the real action is in the parking lot or in the backyard long before kickoff. I am talking about the insanely competitive sport of tailgating. While all grilling fans get excited about the beginning of the season, any ball player will tell you, the only thing that matters is the post-season.

I've heard more than once from several different people that the best tailgaters are in Green Bay, Wisconsin outside of Lambeau Field at Packer games. I launched a full-scale investigation into whether or not the Pack fans deserved this title. Well, really my investigation consisted of calling a butcher shop a couple of miles from the stadium. The butcher told me that he sells several bear carcasses whenever Chicago comes to town. When the Detroit Lions make their way to play Green Bay a sudden surge of lion meat is placed. Guess what Green Bay fans eat when the Vikings play the Packers? Large blonde Nordic men!!! Okay, I was kidding about that one. But you have to admit if they are going to go as far as to eat the actual mascot of their most hated rivals; those folks really take their tailgating (and football) pretty seriously.

Now that I think about it a little bit, a lot of teams have tasty mascots. Texas Longhorns: beef anyone? Arkansas Razorbacks: isn't that just a pig? What about the Philadelphia Eagles? Never mind that one, that is just unpatriotic, and I'm pretty sure it is illegal.

My point of all this is that it is time to step your game up on the grill before you watch the game on the gridiron. When I say step your game up, I am not talking about grilling up something fancy or obscure, I am talking about working your best dish to perfection. Everyone can cook something excellently, granted for some that may just be bringing water to a boil. For me, I humbly suggest that I may be a couple of steps past boiling water; you see my dish is "Grilled Italian Italian Sausage and Peppers." The recipe also has onions, but I felt the name was already long enough.

I just want to be honest with everyone when I tell you that in my life I have eaten a lot of Italian sausage. I have prepared it many different ways, with many different condiments and toppings on many kinds of rolls. With all of my trial and error I have devised the best Italian sausage hoagie sandwich in the world.

Everything in this concoction is cooked on the grill. A disposable aluminum pan becomes a frying pan;, another one becomes a sauce pan; the bread gets toasted; the veggies get sautéed; some cheese gets melted and of course Italian sausage gets grilled.

This sausage hoagie is so perfect in so many ways. As delicious as it would be any day of the year it actually tastes better while you're standing in a parking lot in the shadow of your favorite team's stadium.

So put on your game face, and get ready to grill something great this post season.

TONY FATSO'S GRILLED ITALIAN ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS

1/4 cup olive oil

2 bell peppers (one red, one green) seeded and sliced into strips

1 large onion

16 ounce jar of your favorite tomato sauce

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

8 links of Italian sausage

8 hoagie buns (not hotdog buns)

Prepare your grill for direct cooking; on a hot grill place two disposable aluminum pans over the heat. In one pan you are going to cook the peppers and onions in the other you are going to heat up the tomato sauce. Add olive oil to the first pan and toss in the peppers after about five minutes then throw in the onions and cook until done. Use the tongs to clasp the side of the pan and toss the peppers and onions regularly. Keep your eye on the sauce; don't let it burn. When it starts to boil, yank it off the heat. Reduce the grill temperature and cook the Italian sausage links. Do not burn or puncture the outside casing of the sausages. Grill the sausages for about 12 minutes or until completely cooked. Once done, move the sausage to a cooler part of the grill. Slice the hoagie rolls down the middle and toast them for about two minutes. With an oven mitt hold the toasted roll. Put a sausage link into the bread, cover it with the hot tomato sauce and top that off with the shredded mozzarella cheese. On top of the cheese put your peppers and onions. Wrap the whole think in a piece of foil and serve it up.

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