Italian Blue Cheese Dogs

You know what’s really hard?

Waking up at 5 in the morning and not being able to drink coffee or eat breakfast until 9.

I didn’t do that by choice, mind you. I had to get some blood drawn and you have to “fast”. It wouldn’t be a problem if, you know, I didn’t work overnights. Sleeping “late” on the weekends means me getting up around 4 or 5 in the morning. Bleh.

After somehow starving to death for four hours, I got my blood work done, downed a Larabar, and chugged a cup of coffee.

This is how I spend my Saturdays now. Sad.

I’ve finally gotten around to eating lunch (at 10, mind you). I scraped out the last of my balsamic onion relish to eat on my Italian sausage sandwich. These “dogs” that I made are so good, especially when you put them on a quality bun. I chose some pretzel buns my grocery store had in their bakery section, and they worked beautifully.

I’m not a fan of hot dogs (unless they’re cold—some kid habits die hard), nor do I like chili dogs. The “dogs” that I prefer are either bratwurst or Italian sausages. That’s where the real good good is.

Top these bad boys with a blue cheese, balsamic onion and arugula mix and you’ve got yourself a gourmet dog—that’s easy as pie to make.

Italian Blue Cheese Dogs

• Servings: 4-5
• Time: 20 mins
• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Italian sausage links topped with a balsamic onion relish and blue cheese.

Ingredients

• 4-5 large Italian sausage links
• 3 TBS. olive oil
• 1 TBS. balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup arugula
• 1/2 cup blue cheese
• Hot dog buns (I used pretzel ones!) or bolillos

Directions

1. Heat a skillet to medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Cook sausages, flipping occasionally, until browned and cooked through, about 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the rest of the olive oil, vinegar and a pinch of salt and pepper.
3. Add onion, arugula and blue cheese. Serve sausages in a bun and top with the onion relish.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Heat a skillet to medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Cook sausages, flipping occasionally, until browned and cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the rest of the olive oil, vinegar and a pinch of salt and pepper. Add onion, arugula and blue cheese. Serve sausages in a bun and top with the onion relish.