Sweet Pork Sausages with Roasted Grapes

A most interesting flavor combination!

Black grapes are washed, dried, bathed in a bit of olive oil, and then roasted (as if they were tomatoes). The sausages were cooked separately (cast iron frying pan), and the recipe advised serving over mashed potatoes. I decided to try pasta as a base, instead. It worked out fine, but probably would have tasted better with creamy mashed or smashed potatoes.

A few problems - the suggested roasting time for the grapes was 15 minutes, but mine took closer to 25 minutes before they started to reduce and caramelize. The suggested sausage cooking time was 30 minutes. Mine still were rather pink inside, so I finished them off in the microwave.

No specific serving suggestions were made (whole sausage??), so I sliced up the sausage, and tossed them with the grapes and spaghetti. Here a different pasta shape, like maybe wagon wheels or penne, would have been an improvement.

This recipe is an awesome idea. I will certainly prepare it again, but next time I will likely use potatoes. The roasted grapes were so good - I will explore using them, perhaps for ice cream topping? By the way, I found this recipe using "eat your books", and searching for ways to use up the Italian Sausages left over from stuffed spaghetti squash. I never would have found it otherwise!