Thing Fifty-Seven: Sausage and Rapini with Grapes

I threw this together with the thought of bringing together some interesting contrasting flavors. I had three sweet Italian turkey sausages in the freezer, and after poking around randomly looking at recipe names, I figured out what I wanted to try.

I squeezed the sausage out of its casings, and cooked it up in a skillet with a little minced garlic and some water, to help keep it tender. When it was mostly cooked, I threw in some chopped up rapini (a.k.a. broccoli rabe), some whole red grapes, a little fresh marjoram, a splash of balsamic vinegar, and just a touch of crushed red pepper. I sauteed everything up together until the rapini was tender and the grapes were bursting their skins. I served it over polenta, with grated parmesan.

This was an excellent success for a quick weeknight dinner, but I think it might have been better still if I'd cooked the grapes for longer, letting them cook down and caramelize a little. Maybe next time, I'll cook the sausage and remove it, and then get the grapes going for a while over medium-low heat, then add the rapini, and then the cooked sausage. The blend of salty, savory, sweet, bitter, and tart was really enjoyable. This might become a more regular dish!