Provolone and Tomato Sausage from Tony's

Tony's Deli on Northwest Highway is the closest Italian deli to my house. I like their sandwiches, salads, pastas, etc., but have never been crazy about their Italian sausage. Don't get me wrong--it's good, it's just that we have an embarrassment of riches in Chicago for Italian sausage, and I prefer the offerings from Minelli's, Bari, Nottoli's or Caputos. I find Tony's grind to be too fine, and think they need to recalibrate the spicing. Generally, I use Tony's sausage crumbled for pasta and broccoli rabe or beans and broccoli rabe. For grilling, or eating in other ways where I want the sausage to stand out, I'll go with other purveyors.

However, on Friday, while browsing through the freezer case at Tony's, I noticed a different king of sausage--Italian sausage with tomato and provolone. I don't know why they don't offer it fresh (maybe they do, and it sells out quickly), but since Italian sausage can generally be frozen with no ill-effects, I bought a couple pounds and cooked some for dinner on Saturday. Delicious. The sharp provolone added another dimension of flavor to the sausage, even though some of it oozed out while cooking. The tomatos, which were sprinkled through the sausage in dice pieces, were not very prominent, but do, I think, help keep the sausage juicy. I'm looking forward to trying this on the grill. Plus, the pungent smell of sharp provolone and frying sausage made cooking an olfactory pleasure.

Tony's Deli
6708 N Northwest Hwy
Chicago, 60631