When I bought my condo, the previous owner had done a kitchen remodel--new cabinets, new countertops, new flooring. Granted, the cabinets were probably from Home Depot, the countertops were formica, and the flooring was sheet vinyl, but they were new. The appliances, however, were the originals, circa 1990. Except the refrigerator, it was brand new. It's also very small. Not dorm-refrigerator-small, but not full-sized.
At the time, I chalked it up to the fact that the previous owner was an elderly woman who lived alone, and who was very petite, so to her it must have been the perfect size. Judging by how little the appliances had obviously been used, I guessed she didn't cook much. I also figured that she was trying to do as little to the apartment as necessary to sell it, so since the other appliances were still in good working order--and weren't replaced--that the original refrigerator must have broken down and would have been more expensive to repair than replace.
My refrigerator has the freezer on top. I know, not unusual, but think about it, do you spend more time getting into and out of your freezer or your refrigerator? Your refrigerator. Putting the freezer on top means that the compartment that is at eye level and easiest to access is the compartment that you use the least. On top of that, did I mention that it's small? I'm actually taller, by several inches, than my refrigerator. This means, that I have to bend over every time I get into the refrigerator, and if there's anything stored on the bottom shelf, I actually have to squat down or get on my knees in order to reach it. I regularly lose things that have been pushed to the back on the lower shelf. Out of sight, out of mind.
So, a couple of days ago, I was rearranging some items on that lower refrigerator shelf and realized that the grapes I had bought the week before had been pushed to the back. The grapes were a little sad looking, not spoiled, but not as plump and fresh as they had been. I didn't want to throw them away, that would be wasteful, but what to do....
I suddenly remembered a dish I had eaten years ago. I don't remember the name of the restaurant, or even what city I was in, but the dish was pasta with a spicy sausage and grapes! I remember that the sweetness of the grapes were the perfect counterpoint to the heat of the sausage. Using that faint memory as inspiration, I decided to create my own version of the dish and give life back to those sad, forgotten grapes. I'm pretty pleased with the results....
Rigatoni with Spicy Sausage and Grapes
When I was working on this recipe, I used ingredients that I had on hand. Feel free to try other pasta shapes (I think penne or orecchiette would make nice options). I happened to have fresh chorizo in the refrigerator, but this dish would also work great with a spicy Italian sausage.
Serves 4
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pound fresh spicy sausage, such as chorizo or Italian, removed from the casings
1 leek, cleaned and thinly sliced (it looked lonely in the refrigerator, so I added it to the dish)
1 small onion, diced
1 cup white wine
1 ½ cups chopped fresh tomatoes
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
1 cups red or green seedless grapes, stems removed
2 tablespoons chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
1 pound rigatoni, cooked per the package instructions
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Grated parmesan cheese to garnish
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When warm, add the sausage to the skillet and cook, stirring and breaking up the sausage as it cooks. When the sausage is no longer pink, add the leek and onion and a pinch of salt. Continue to cook, stirring, until the onions are softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and stir, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the skillet. Bring the wine to a simmer and cook until the liquid has reduced by at least half, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and red pepper flakes and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have broken down, another 5 minutes more. Add the grapes and cook until the grapes are plump and softened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley, taste and season with additional salt and pepper.
Drain the rigatoni and add to the skillet with the sausage and grapes. Stir to evenly mix, then divide into 4 warmed pasta bowls. Garnish with parmesan and serve.
P.S.: I think I finally figured out why the the previous owner both replaced the refrigerator and did so with one so small. About a year or two ago, I considered replacing it with something larger, and when I measured the space, I discovered that distance between the floor and the bottom of the cabinets above the refrigerator was about an inch to short to fit a standard sized refrigerator. My guess is that the contractor didn't check that measurement when ordering the cabinets and only realized after the fact that the original refrigerator was too tall to fit in the new opening. Getting a new, larger refrigerator will require removing the cabinets above. So, for the time being, I'm living with it as it is. Maybe someday, I'll get the chance to do the kitchen over properly--and you can be sure I'm going to double check all the measurements!
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