Sheet Pan Italian Sausage with Shallots and Apples

Yesterday marked the end of my lightning mess. My computer got zapped in the storm 3 weeks ago and I was holding out to see if new iMacs were rolling out. Turns out they are, but they are just the entry level iMacs. With a smaller screen and lower resolution that what I had before, they are not for me.

The larger, 27" iMac that I had is still for sale at the Apple Store. But it has the old Intel chips and a design that has gone unchanged since 2009 (Obama's first year in office). It will likely soldier on until this fall....but I can't wait that long. For the last 3 weeks I've been hunched over my MacBook Air...and using the small screen 8 hours a day was starting to get tedious.

So I bought myself a Mac mini (super high performance at half the cost of a high-end iPhone), which has the latest and greatest silicone from Apple, and an LG 32" monitor. What an upgrade! When you're 68 and wear glasses, this enormous screen is welcome relief. I really missed being able to have two documents up on the screen, side-by-side, as I am doing now writing this blog.

Today's recipe is from Lidey Heuck. And I'm here to tell you this is an absolutely perfect cornucopia of flavorful pleasures. Hot Italian sausage. Delicate shallots. Roasted apples, a Granny Smith and a Honeycrisp...for the perfect combo of tart and sweet. And then they are all tossed with whole-grain mustard and apple cider vinegar. Be still my heart. And my tongue.

INGREDIENTS

6 medium shallots, trimmed on both ends and peeled

1 Granny Smith apple

1 Honeycrisp apple

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more as needed

Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

1 pound Hot Italian sausages

3 fresh rosemary sprigs

1 teaspoon whole-grain mustard

1 to 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 425º. Cut the shallots lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick wedges. Core the apples and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges. Place the shallots and apples on a sheet pan, drizzle with the 1 tablespoon olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Roast the mixture for 10 to 15 minutes, until the shallots are just starting to brown at the edges.
2. Meanwhile, place the sausages on a plate. Using a fork, prick a few holes in each sausage. Drizzle the sausages with olive oil and toss to coat.
3. Add the rosemary and mustard to the pan with the apples and shallots, and toss, spreading everything out into one even layer. Arrange the sausages on the pan, evenly distributed, and roast for 30 minutes, flipping the sausages and tossing the apples and shallots with the juices released from the sausages halfway through, until the sausages are browned and the shallots are tender and caramelized.
4. Transfer the sausages to a serving platter and discard the rosemary sprigs. Pour the vinegar over the apples and shallots and toss well, scraping up any browned bits from the pan. Transfer to the serving platter with the sausages and serve immediately.

Wine pairing: Zinfandel

Grogs and Goldie, 1956