italian sloppy joes

i mentioned last week that things have been a little crazy around the gullo household with both my kids graduating and everything else that's been going on {the graduation party was a huge success pictures tomorrow} well in my goal to make things easy on me while planning the upcoming events i have been making simple meals with little or no fuss or muss.. this being one of the more popular ones, well popular with pete.. shell is a self proclaimed sloppy joe hater.. any kind of sloppy joe she claims to hate.. personally i really enjoyed this version and i hope you will too..

italian sloppy joe

prep time: 10 minutes
cooking time: approx. 45 minutes
servings: 4-6 sandwiches

ingredients:

1 lb. ground italian turkey sausage {casing removed}
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
olive oil
1 14 oz. can of diced or crushed italian tomatoes
2 tblsp. tomato paste
1/4 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper
1/2 tblsp. agave
1 tsp. crushed red pepper

6 hambuger buns, toasted

toppings:

sliced pepperoni
shredded mozzarella

directions:

in a large skillet over medium heat add two twirls around the pan with olive oil and sweat the onions and garlic until fragrant.. 3-5 minutes..add ground turkey and cook until no longer pink and the meat is crumbly.. add tomato paste and stir to incorporate well with the meat.. add chicken broth and cook about 3 minutes.. then add diced or crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, agave and crushed red pepper.. stir to make sure it's all well combined and then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.. stirring occasionally.. when meat is done toast your buns and assemble your sandwiches.. put a heaping spoon of the sloppy joe mixture and top with shredded cheese and 3-4 pepperoni slices and top with your other toasted bun.. {i forgot to add the cheese to the one that i took the picture of .. silly me} but they are sooo good.. a little bit sweet from the agave a little bit spicy from the crushed red pepper.. very good but quick and easy and very satisfying..

enjoy and get cook'n!!