Cheesy Peas with Grilled Sausage: Russian Recipes Revisited

For this Russian Recipes Revisited post you get just one photograph. Sorry about that...but I'll also tell you a story...so that should make up for that.

When I was a little girl growing up in Russia, there were certain foods I loved. I've already told you about some of them, but here's another: hot dogs with peas. The hot dogs were simply boiled and served sans buns on a plate. The peas were from a can and mixed with mayonnaise.

How many of you are gagging right now?

That's fine. You don't have to like the same food I like. But for me, this combination brings back so many warm childhood memories. In fact, when my twin sister and I were 9 years old and our brother was born, I remember having hot dogs and peas with mayonnaise for dinner that night because our bachelor uncle babysat us while our dad was at the hospital with our mom and brother.

Even now, two decades after moving to the US, I love having a "naked" hot dog either boiled or sauteed with a few sides. By the way, when I was little, my parents used to make an x cut on each end of a hot dog before sauteing it, making the ends curl up: try this with your kids!

A few weekends ago I decided to make a slightly grown up version of my childhood favorite. The recipe is below.

Cheesy Peas with Grilled Sausage
Serves 1

Ingredients
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1 cup defrosted peas (if you have fresh ones, use them!)
2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese
1-2 prepared sausages (I used chicken with peppers and garlic variety)

Directions
1. In a small skillet heat the olive oil. Add the shallots and saute for 3-5 minutes till softened.
2. Add defrosted peas and heat through.
3. Turn the heat off and add Romano cheese to the peas, allowing the cheese to melt.
4. Meanwhile, diagonally slice your sausages and grill on both sides.
5. Serve grilled sausage slices on top of cheesy peas. 

Do you have childhood favorite meals that sound weird to your friends?