Sticky Sweet and Sour Plums and Sausages

Amarante

Fri, Nov 10 2023, 9:31 am

I had gotten a large box of plums from Costco so this seemed like the perfect recipe to use some of them up.

I used Jack's Sausages but as the notes indicate, you could even use veggie sausage which would make it a great hearty dish if you are feeding vegetarians or even vegans.

Recipe easily scales up to feed more

Sticky Sweet and Sour Plums and Sausages

Excerpt From: Ottolenghi, Yotam; Murad, Noor. “Ottolenghi Test Kitchen : Shelf Love--recipes to Unlock the Secrets of Your Pantry, Fridge, and Freezer: a Cookbook

Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Here we celebrate plums in all their beautiful red glory. As they cook, they gently break down to create a sweet/sour sauce for the sausages and potatoes. Paired with sticky pomegranate molasses and sour sumac, you can’t really go wrong. Try to source pomegranate molasses from a Middle Eastern grocery store; it should be quite sharp and tangy and not overly sweet.

Serves 4

5 small red onions, each cut into 6 wedges (1 lb 10 oz/750g)
2 heads of garlic, skin on and each halved crosswise
3 russet potatoes (1 lb 10 oz/750g), skin on and each quartered lengthwise
½ cup/120ml olive oil
1 lb 10 oz/750g red plums (about 10), halved and pitted (1 lb 5 oz/600g)
3 rosemary sprigs
8 sausages (1 lb 5 oz/600g)
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
¼ cup/90g pomegranate molasses
packed ¼ cup/50g light brown sugar
2 tbsp sumac
½ cup/10g parsley leaves, with some stem attached
salt and black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. Put the onions, garlic, potatoes, 5 tablespoons of oil, 7 tablespoons/100ml of water, 1½ teaspoons of salt, and a good grind of pepper into a large roasting pan roughly 16 x 12 inches/40 x 30cm in size. Toss everything together, then bake for 35 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the vegetables have softened and started to take on some color and the water has evaporated.

3. Add the plums (cut side up) and the rosemary, then nestle in the sausages. In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, molasses, sugar, 2 tablespoons of water, 1½ tablespoons of sumac, 2 tablespoons of oil, ½ teaspoon of salt, and a good grind of pepper and pour this all over the mixture in the pan. Return to the oven for 40 minutes, carefully turning over the sausages halfway through. Turn the oven temperature up to 425°F and roast for 10 minutes more, or until everything is nicely browned, the plums have broken down, and the sauce is bubbling and sticky.

4. Toss together the parsley, the remaining 1½ teaspoons of sumac, and the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and dot this all over the sausage mixture. Serve warm, directly from the pan.

Make it your own:

– Use any kind of sausages you like here: duck or chicken would work well, as would vegetarian sausages.
– Swap out the potatoes for sweet potatoes.