Sausage and Balsamic Tomatoes

It should be too hot to cook, but I couldn't resist.  I found this recipe last winter, back when tomatoes were ridiculously expensive.  I meant to make it, but it seemed like a waste without good tomatoes.  This week, I found myself with tomatoes on hand from an impulse buy (what's happened to me that I impulsively buy tomatoes?), extra basil from the pasta I had made, and delicious sausages sitting in the freezer.  Clearly, it was a sign that I needed to make this dish.

One caveat about this dish, it's good, but you need to have good sausages (I think) to make it good.  If you're trying to make this with Jimmy Dean's, please do yourself a favour and stop.  I went with deer and red wine sausage from William Walter (of course).  I also substituted garlic scape for the garlic, because I couldn't resist buying it at the Val-Mont.  The recipe below is scaled down, but really, I didn't measure anything, so it's all a guess.  I served this over a bed of polenta, but also like the idea of serving it with rice or couscous, but it certainly helps to have something to ladle the vinegar sauce onto.


Sausage and Balsamic Tomatoes (from Kayotic Kitchen)

Ingredients
4 sausages
2 small red onions (or 1 yellow)
250g cherry tomatoes
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 garlic cloves (or 3 - 4 garlic scapes)
2 tbsp oil
fresh basil, torn
pepper
salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Peel and slice garlic or chop garlic scapes.
2. Cut onion into wedges.
3. Place sausages in a roasting dish.  Add garlic.  Pour olive oil on top and season with salt and pepper.  Turn the sausages to coat them and the bottom of the pan with oil.  Add onion slices.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
5. Add cherry tomatoes and pour on top balsamic vinegar.
6. Return to oven and cook for 15 more minutes.
7. Mix in fresh basil and serve over something to absorb some of the sauce.