Author Notes
This actually started out in my mind as an Italian sausage and grape dish, but when I got to the store they had great looking merguez sausages (a beautiful deep red North African lamb sausage) so my mind made a quick trip across the Mediterranean (my mind is quite a globe trotter) and I bought them. The sausages are so flavorful and spicy I thought sweet red grapes would be a great foil, and really they didn't need a whole lot else to bring a delicious dish together. I made this for lunch and ate it as is, but for a heartier dinner I would suggest serving it over couscous. Also I apologize for the crappy picture ... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't —aargersi
Ingredients
-
1 cup
red seedless grapes - mine are small, if you get large ones you might cut them in half
-
8 ounces
fresh merguez sausage
-
1/2 cup
thinly sliced shallot
-
1 tablespoon
olive oil
-
Pinch
salt
-
1/2 teaspoon
smoked sweet paprika
-
Pinch
aleppo pepper (or crushed red if you can't find allepo, or neither if you don't want extra heat)
-
1/2 cup
dry red wine
-
lemon zest
Directions
-
Heat the oven to 350. Heat an oven-proof skillet to about medium (I used a 9" iron skillet). Add the olive oil, shallots, and a pinch of salt. Cook the shallots until they start to soften, about 5-7 minutes. Add in the grapes, paprika and Aleppo and cook, stirring gently, until the grapes also soften a bit, another 5 minutes or so. Now push those aside to make room and add the sausages, making sure they are in contact with the pan. Cook them until they are browned on one side, then turn them over,
-
Add the red wine to the pan, stir everything around a bit, and pop it in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes until the wine has reduced to a thick syrup, the grapes and shallots are super tender and the sausages are cooked through.
-
Scoop the grapes and shallots into a dish, then lay the sausages over. Pour any remaining liquid in over the top. Zest about half a lemon over the top and serve. Make sure to get a grape or three with each bite of sausage - tasty combo indeed!!
Country living, garden to table cooking, recent beek, rescue all of the dogs, #adoptdontshop
See what other Food52ers are saying.