Smoked Sausage Dogs with Caramelized Fennel and Onions

I’m so excited that Ingredient Challenge Mondays are back! If you missed Friday’s post, Sunny from And Love It Too! and I are teaming up again for ingredient challenges. This time, we are including our readers with a linky tool so everybody can share in the fun.

The 2nd Monday of every month both of us will be hosting Ingredient Challenge Monday. You will have two weeks to link up your recipe using the chosen ingredient.

Our first challenge is fennel.

Also, we now have an ICM badge for you to use on your blog after linking up – just right click, “save as” and link it to our most recent ingredient challenge.

Remember, at the end of the two weeks Sunny and I will choose our favorite recipe and it will be featured on our blogs. Great exposure opportunity!

 Smoked Sausage Dogs with Caramelized Fennel and Onions

1 large onion, sliced thin

1 fennel bulb, sliced lengthwise in half in 1″ pieces

1 tsp salt

1 lb. smoked sausage, cut to fit the buns and sliced lengthwise

Hot dog buns

Mozzarella cheese

Add onion and fennel to a pan drizzled with olive oil over medium heat; toss to coat. After 5 minutes, sprinkle with salt. Caramelize, turning frequently, for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat down to medium low and cook for an hour. Stir them every few minutes, making sure they don’t burn. You may find that you need to add a little water to the pan if they start drying out and sticking. You could also add a little sugar for extra caramelization.

While those are cooking, preheat the oven to low broil. Cook the sausages for 7-10 minutes on each side until done. Remove, but keep the broiler on.

Fill the hot dog buns with sausage, top with onion/fennel mixture and layer cheese on top. Broil for just a couple of minutes until the cheese is melted.

Approximately 4 servings.

Make sure to visit Sunny to see her fennel dish.

Link up!