Vegetable-Sausage Foil Packs

Vegetable-Sausage Foil Packs are perfect for the grill.  This recipe can also be done in the oven which makes this a keeper. I am using Italian Sausage today, but I have also used Kielbasa (Polish Sausage) in the winter months.

Sausages are my favourite anytime of the year.  When I was pregnant with my eldest daughter, I craved them every day.  The on-going joke was that the child would look like a sausage.  There is something about Italian sausages which is comforting.  I remember chef Emeril Legasse saying that “pork fat rules” and I think he is right.  The fact is that sausages have been part of our diet for over twenty centuries, with the first ones dating back to Greece. Most sausages then were made and dried.

Every country has famous sausage recipes and every family has one.  This is a nice cultural overview of sausages: http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/food/entries/display.php/id/45/

Today, my Vegetable-Sausage Foil Packs keep me in my outside kitchen and make clean-up a breeze.  I like a white wine with sausages;  I am having a local Riesling with mine today.  It is a Niagara wine: Cave Spring 2014 Riesling Estate.

First I create the foil packs and I have included an easy method in the recipe for you.  It is a quick and great video.

Next I cut, chop and dice the vegetables.

Simple ingredients for the dressing: balsamic vinegar, Italian seasoning and olive oil.

Next to going to an Italian butcher for sausage, these are the best.  They can be purchased at Metro or Food Basic and they are Canadian.  I like the fat content of these sausages and are as close to homemade as you will get.  They are also very large in size; they come in hot, mild and fennel flavour.

Everything is mixed with the dressing.

Packets on the grill.

Opened on the plate, these packets make clean-up a breeze.  Everything is perfectly caramelized.  That little bit of balsamic vinegar makes everything sweet and helps to roast the vegetables to perfection.