What’s For Dinner? World’s Easiest Fall Recipe
Just two “real” ingredients — and it’s from Gourmet !
Cook sausages in olive oil; add grapes and cook till soft, stir in balsamic vinegar.
This recipe, from the “Seasonal Kitchen” feature in the October 2005 issue, uses seedless (!!!) red grapes, sausages, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Period. If you search the Epicurious site for “sausages with grapes,” or for the actual title, “Italian Sausages with Red Grapes,” you will not find the recipe. However if you Google it, you’ll find it — on Epicurious, here.
This is a great recipe to present in “per-person” quantities. Easy to cook for one, or for a family (if you have a big enough pan).
“Italian sausage” is the US term for pork sausages with fennel. Wikipedia tells me that the “hot Italian” variety has red pepper flakes added, and the “sweet” variety has sweet basil. I didn’t know that.
A note for the vegetarians (hey, SG) — Impossible now has Italian sausages, both mild and hot. We used a mild one in a pasta sauce recently and it was just fine. I will try making this sausages-with-grapes recipe soon with Impossible sausages and report back.
SAUSAGES WITH GRAPES — QUANTITIES FOR *ONE* SERVING:
- 1 Italian “sweet” or mild (not hot) sausage (about 1/3 lb)
- ~ 1 tsp olive oil (but this is not baking — y’know: “some”)
- ~ 1/3 lb (5 – 6oz or so) seedless (!!!) red grapes. My favorites are “Crimson.”
- 2 tsp or so balsamic vinegar — not the fancy stuff
Depending on the thickness of your sausages, the cooking time will vary. I use a cast-iron pan and heat it on medium-high, add the oil, and when it’s heated, lower the heat to medium, add the sausages and cook about 4 to 5 minutes on a side, till they’re well browned. They will continue to cook in the next step.
While the sausages are browning, wash up the grapes and dry them a bit (I keep a kitchen towel on deck at all times just for drying fruits and veggies), then add the grapes to the browned sausages. Cook, stirring every couple minutes so they don’t burn on one side, until the grapes are softened and the sausages are completely cooked, 12 minutes or so. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and serve. The recipe says to salt and pepper to taste at this point. I don’t ever salt this — sausages bring their own saltiness! — and I always forget the pepper, but perhaps I shouldn’t.
Did I mention to be sure to get seedless grapes?
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