Homemade Italian Sausage Recipe

This homemade Italian sausage recipe with grapes is really easy and quick to prepare.

In autumn season is traditionaly served to feed hungry Umbrian grape harvesters from central Italy.

Laura asked me this:
I had this amazing dish in Cortona (Italy) last year, and I am trying to find the recipe.

It contained Italian sausage, red grapes and cocoa powder, any idea on how I can find this recipe?

Yes I do! This is the Umbrian dish called "salsiccia all'uva" an unusual way of cooking Italian sausages and here's the recipe for you...

slightly different variation with red wine and a drizzele of balsamic vinegar

Ingredients: serves 4

- 2 lb (900g) pork sausages
- 2 bunches of black grapes
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup (230ml) white wine
- 1 sprig of sage
- cocoa powder optional

Preparation: about 40 min

1. Wash the leaves of the sage and bunches of grapes and wipe both. Divide the sausage into four equal parts and roll each coiled upon itself and then secured with long toothpicks.

2. Put the sage in the frying oil, add the spirals of sausages (if you do not have a frying pan big enough, you can cook two at a time), brown for 5 minutes on both sides so they will lose much of thier fat, which will then enrich the sauce.

Wet the sausages with white wine, raise the heat and continue cooking sausages for 5 minutes. Add the grapes, stir and cook for 8 minutes more, until the sauce thickens.

Now if you like the taste you can add a sprinkle of cocoa powder to the dish and then it's ready to be served.