Grapes, sausage meld well with pasta

Published 2:25 pm Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Don’t be turned off by the thought of grapes and sausage with your pasta. It’s a dish from Andrew Carmellini’s new cookbook, “Urban Italian,” and it makes complete sense.

“These are, in fact, all the flavors of the Italian grape harvest time: sage, meaty spicy sausage, and, of course, sweet young grape juice,” he writes in the book. “I’ve just put it all together. It’s totally delicious. Trust me.”

If you can’t find strozzapreti pasta, which resembles small, twisted strands of rope, any small, thin pasta will do.

STROZZAPRETI WITH SAUSAGE, GRAPES AND RED WINE

1cup seedless red grapes (not Thompson), halved lengthwise

1cup dry red wine

1/4cup sugar

2tablespoons red wine vinegar

1pound dried strozzapreti pasta (or other small, thin pasta)

3tablespoons olive oil

11/2pounds Italian sausage (about 4 links, 2 spicy and 2 sweet), casings removed and meat roughly chopped

1medium yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

10fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped

2tablespoons butter

1/2cup grated pecorino cheese, plus extra for sprinkling

1/2teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1tablespoon chopped Italian parsley

In an medium bow, combine the grapes, wine, sugar and vinegar. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, then refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

When ready to cook, bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil.

While the water heats, transfer the grape mixture to a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil and cook until the liquid has reduced by half, about 10 minutes.

When the water has boiled, add the pasta and cook until just al dente (about 1 minute less than the suggested cooking time on the pasta packaging).

While the pasta cooks, in a large saucepan over medium, heat the olive oil. Add the meat and saute until it just starts to brown, about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring and breaking up the meat as you go.

Add the onion and continue cooking, stirring well, until the sausage and onion have cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the sage and stir to combine.

Add the grape mixture and stir well.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it, but do not rinse it. Add the pasta to the pot with the grape and sausage mixture. Place over medium heat for about 11/2 minutes to allow the flavors to blend and the pasta to cook a bit more.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter, cheese, black pepper and parsley. Sprinkle with more cheese and serve immediately.

Recipe from Andrew Carmellini’s “Urban Italian”