Salsiccia is an universal name for different types of fresh Italian sausage. It usually refers to a sausage made with minced or ground pork meat, pork fat, and numerous spices. If you are living in Norway, I can recommend the Jacob´s Salsiccia sausage.
Agrodolce [ˌaɡroˈdoltʃe] sounds like a big word, but it is a term referring to a traditional sweet and sour sauce in Italian cuisine . In this recipe we caramelise sugar and add white balsamic vinegar to make the sauce.
Anyhoo, one of my favourite recipes for Salsiccia sausage is from Food & Travel magazine. The creamy parmesan polenta and sweet and sour onions and aubergine mix works extremely well with the Salsiccia sausage.
I have adapted the recipe slightly as I felt that there was not enough sauce, you can never have enough sauce!!!
Bon apetite!
You’ll need
- • For the Agrodolce onions
- ¼ cup x castor sugar
- 1 cup x white balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup x water
- ¼ cup x extra virgin olive oil
- 400g x shallots, peeled. (If they are big, slice them in halve)
- 3 Tbsp x capers, drained if brined, rinsed if salted
- 3 Tbsp x pine nuts, toasted
- 300g x aubergine, cut into 1cm cubes
- small bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves removed and roughly chopped
- salt and pepper for seasoning
- • For the polenta
- 300ml x milk
- 500ml x water
- 180g x polenta
- 50g butter, cubed
- 50g x parmesan, grated
- • To serve
- 500g x salsiccia (Fresh Italian pork sausage), grilled or fried
Method
- Grill or fry your sausages until golden brown. Keep warm until you are ready to plate.
- For the agrodolce mixture, put the sugar in a small pan over a low heat and watch until the sugar caramelises. When evenly brown, take off the heat and add the balsamic vinegar. It will splatter, so be careful. Put to one side.
- Heat halve of the olive oil in a large pan and add the aubergine and fry until golden on all sides. Transfer to a plate.
- Heat the rest of the olive oil and fry the onions for about 8 minutes until evenly golden and almost cooked.
- Add the agrodolce mixture and water, cover and continue to cook on a low heat until the liquid has thickened a little and the onions are cooked through.
- Fold in the aubergine, capers, pine nuts and parsley and remove from the heat. Season with salt and pepper.
- Just before you’re ready to serve, prepare the polenta.
- Heat the milk with 500ml water. Just before it starts to boil, add the polenta in a slow steady stream.
- Whisk continuously so it doesn’t go lumpy or burn on the bottom of the pan.
- Turn the heat to very low and cook, stirring, for a few minutes until the polenta comes away from the sides of the pan.
- Take off the heat and stir in the butter and parmesan. Season with salt.
- Spoon onto 4 plates and top with the onions. Serve with the salsiccia sausages.