Weeknight Wondermeal: Sweet Sausage and Grapes

This is, quite possibly, one of the easiest meals I’ve ever made.  And it could even be simplier, if you don’t care about adding rice or rosemary to it.  6 basic ingredients, and less than an hour on the stovetop: what could be easier?  So this one goes out to all my friends who say they can’t cook.  If you can’t make this sweet, savory, satisfying recipe, you may be dead — which would explain a lot of things…

Sweet Sausage and Grapes

1 lb sweet italian sausage links (or 1/2 sweet, 1/2 hot)
1 lb mixed red and green seedless grapes
1/4 cup EVOO
1/2 cup red wine
1 tbs butter
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
4 tbs balsamic vinegar
white rice
crusty bread (for sopping)

The first thing to do is gently blanch the sausages by boiling them for a few moments in hot water.  Why?  This cooks out a lot of oil, and it helps keep the sausages from splitting open.  I used the same pan I was going to cook the whole meal in, and just wiped out the water between the boil and the sear.

To sear the sausages, I got my EVOO hot in the pan (which is high-sided and large enough for the whole meal), then cooked the links – rolling a quarter turn every couple minutes – until they were nicely browned on all surfaces.

Then I added my wine, using a spatula to scrape up the sausage fond while the liquid reduced for about 3 minutes on high.

Then I added my grapes.  Mmmmm… grapes.

Then I added my knob of butter and my stems of rosemary.  Then I covered the pan, and let it simmer on the stovetop over medium-high heat for 40 minutes.

I got my rice working on a back burner, then checked my pan.  The liquid content has increased dramatically with stewed grape juice, and the sausages are fully cooked through and tinted a deep purple from the red wine.  I remove the lid, raise the heat so the liquid will reduce and thicken, and I let it simmer another 10 minutes while I heat a baguette in the oven for dippin’.  When the liquid is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, I plate up my sausages and grapes, leaving the liquid in the pan before adding my balsamic vinegar to the mix.  I let this simmer for 5 minutes, stirring well to incorporate everything and to scrape up any nice brown bits from the base of the pan.

The marriage of rich, tangy sweetness and rich, porky unctuousness in this dish is just heavenly!  Most of the grapes have cracked into  juicy pulpy packets of flavor, but some burst on the tongue with hot insistence, exploding into the mouth like atom bombs of delight.  The rosemary adds just a note of woodiness, and the balsamic vinegar brings balance to the sugar.  The sauce is thick and viscous, just begging to be mopped up with crusty bread and studded with slices of tender Italian sausage.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: sometimes, simple = perfect.  And this recipe is proof of that.  Enjoy!