I've been wanting to make this recipe since I first looked through Diana Henry's new cookbook, Cook Simple. Unfortunately, grapes are not in season and until now I've only seen imported white grapes ... but no black ones. Well today there they were waiting for me at the corner shop, imported from Peru of all places and very expensive - over 6 euros for a kilo! I hesitated, decided to try one (after asking first) and upon discovering they were wonderfully sweet and had no pips ... well, that was that, I had no choice!
Also here we don't get lovely fat pork sausages as can be found in the UK, nor those wonderful Italian ones either of course. However, what I did buy the other week, and popped in the freezer thinking specifically of this recipe, was four meaty Chorizo Criollo. Now it's important to mention here I feel that there are different types of chorizo, not just the sliced stuff you eat on bread. Some, like those I bought, you have to cook, others you can either cook or eat as they are, and a few you don't cook at all. They also come in sweet or hot forms just like the Italian sausages. I could only hope my sausages were the real deal and so it was a case of just giving it a go.
Very strangely, we had no red wine in the house only white, so I had to go with that. But as luck would have it I did have a bottle of grape juice and some balsamic syrup. I've never used balsamic syrup before but understand it's great in marinades. Diana offers no serving suggestions for this and I was just wondering what to make when I found we had some orange fleshed sweet potatoes that needed using. So I decided to make a mash. Mmmmm ..... sausages 'n' mash!
This created lots of very tasty, although rather thin, sauce ... I think that was my fault though as I realised afterwards I'd added too much wine and too many grapes, d'oh! Perhaps because of this the sausages didn't get really brown, which was a bit of a disappointment. All in all a nice recipe idea but it didn't really excite me in the eating. Perhaps it was the sausages, or using white wine instead of red, but somehow I found it a bit bland and it certainly didn't look appetite-inducing on the plate. I think this is the first recipe by Diana Henry that has disappointed me ... this may well be down to me though and so I'll perhaps give it another try when grapes are in season and I have some red wine in the house!
Vine-growers' Sausages - Serves 4
1 red onion, sliced
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
olive oil
8 good-quality pork sausages
250g seedless black grapes
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
200ml red wine
50ml saba*
*Saba is grape must. Diana says, if you can't find it, use either vincotto or balsamic syrup mixed half and half with grape juice.
Preheat oven to 190ºC. Put the onion slices and chopped celery in the bottom of an ovenproof dish that will hold the grapes and sausages in a single layer. Season and drizzle over 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Lay the sausages and grapes on top (leave about half the grapes on their stalks - it just looks nice). Using a wooden spoon, crush about a third of the grapes so that their juice comes out. Tuck in the bay leaves. Season again and drizzle a little more olive oil over the grapes and sausages. Mix the wine with the saba and pour it around the sausages.
Roast for 50 minutes, until cooked through. Turn the sausages over halfway through the cooking time so that they get coloured on both sides.
Also here we don't get lovely fat pork sausages as can be found in the UK, nor those wonderful Italian ones either of course. However, what I did buy the other week, and popped in the freezer thinking specifically of this recipe, was four meaty Chorizo Criollo. Now it's important to mention here I feel that there are different types of chorizo, not just the sliced stuff you eat on bread. Some, like those I bought, you have to cook, others you can either cook or eat as they are, and a few you don't cook at all. They also come in sweet or hot forms just like the Italian sausages. I could only hope my sausages were the real deal and so it was a case of just giving it a go.
Very strangely, we had no red wine in the house only white, so I had to go with that. But as luck would have it I did have a bottle of grape juice and some balsamic syrup. I've never used balsamic syrup before but understand it's great in marinades. Diana offers no serving suggestions for this and I was just wondering what to make when I found we had some orange fleshed sweet potatoes that needed using. So I decided to make a mash. Mmmmm ..... sausages 'n' mash!
This created lots of very tasty, although rather thin, sauce ... I think that was my fault though as I realised afterwards I'd added too much wine and too many grapes, d'oh! Perhaps because of this the sausages didn't get really brown, which was a bit of a disappointment. All in all a nice recipe idea but it didn't really excite me in the eating. Perhaps it was the sausages, or using white wine instead of red, but somehow I found it a bit bland and it certainly didn't look appetite-inducing on the plate. I think this is the first recipe by Diana Henry that has disappointed me ... this may well be down to me though and so I'll perhaps give it another try when grapes are in season and I have some red wine in the house!
Vine-growers' Sausages - Serves 4
1 red onion, sliced
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
olive oil
8 good-quality pork sausages
250g seedless black grapes
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
200ml red wine
50ml saba*
*Saba is grape must. Diana says, if you can't find it, use either vincotto or balsamic syrup mixed half and half with grape juice.
Preheat oven to 190ºC. Put the onion slices and chopped celery in the bottom of an ovenproof dish that will hold the grapes and sausages in a single layer. Season and drizzle over 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Lay the sausages and grapes on top (leave about half the grapes on their stalks - it just looks nice). Using a wooden spoon, crush about a third of the grapes so that their juice comes out. Tuck in the bay leaves. Season again and drizzle a little more olive oil over the grapes and sausages. Mix the wine with the saba and pour it around the sausages.
Roast for 50 minutes, until cooked through. Turn the sausages over halfway through the cooking time so that they get coloured on both sides.
2 comments:
What a shame, Pi!
From first seeing the photo, I thought they were cherries. Maybe an idea for an experiment?
Pi,the dish certainly LOOKS good! I´m sorry you were not pleased, though. What if you started with browning the sausages first and then transfer to the oven...
vs
xx
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