Air Fryer Italian Sausage Hoagie

Air fryers are all the rage right about now, I mean, I have one, and I love my new toy. But, as useful as they are, they are just another kitchen gadget at our disposal, and, sometimes cooking a dish requires multiple steps. And, my fryer Italian sausage hoagie is a good example. We’re going to use the air fryer, stove and toaster oven to create a delicious Italian sausage hoagie with onions, peppers and tomato sauce, in a toasted topped with melted mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Sounds good? Then keep reading.

Air fryers are relatively new to the kitchen counter. What started as a industrial convection oven for commercial kitchens has now become one of the hottest gadgets in the kitchen. Easy to use, one touch preprogrammed controls make the air fryer a good addition to the kitchen. If you can cook it in the oven, you can cook it in the air fryer. Cheaper to run than an oven, and faster, because you don’t have to wait for it to heat up. Better results than a toaster oven because the internal fan blows hot air all around whatever you’re cooking, giving a better finished product.

However, I can’t sauté onions, peppers and garlic and, make a tomato sauce to go over the Italian sausage hoagie. Although, I know I could toast the hoagie roll and melt the cheese using my air fryer.

And, as usual, I wanted everyone to see their options.

There are three steps to the process, and, everything happens at the same time, which makes things easier. This recipe is for two Italian sausage hoagies, if you’re feeding more, just multiply the ingredients. I like to prep everything before I start cooking, it seems to make things go easier. Starting with the onion, cut into half, and slice into half rings, then the pepper, cut into thin strips. This is how I used to get my Italian sausage hoagies at the carnivals and fairs years ago, and that’s the way I’ve liked them ever since. And, that is all the prep work.

What makes this recipe easy is that everything does it’s thing at the same time, and, it’s not too labor intensive. Start with the sausages, into the air fryer basket. Set the timer to 20 mins at 400 degrees. We’ll keep and eye on them for doneness, 165 degrees internal temp and a nice brown cooked skin.

As useful as an air fryer may be, I don’t believe it can make a tomato, onion and pepper sauce, for that we need a stove and a pan. Preheat a pan over medium heat, add olive oil, when hot add onions and garlic. Let them sauté a bit, get a bit of color. This is the Maillard reaction and it’s what gives food its color and complex taste. How add the peppers, tomato sauce and spices, cover and let simmer while the sausage is cooking. And on to the next step. Open the hoagie lengthwise and put it in the toaster oven for a few minutes to get a little crispy.

Now to build the air fryer Italian sausage hoagie. Just remember, everything is hot. Each hoagie gets 1 and 1/2 sausages first, then pile with the tomato, onion and pepper sauce. And, finally, top generously with Italian cheeses, that would be Mozzarella, Parmesan and Reggiano. Now put that in the toaster oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese and get a little brown on top. Remove, allow to cool a few moments before serving.

Pretty easy to make and delicious to eat, my air fryer Italian sausage hoagie will be an absolute hit. Thanks for reading and enjoy dinner