Golden-brown fried gnocchi, spiced pork sausage and grapes that burst open in the pan come together in a sweet-and-savory sauce with a fresh tang of red wine vinegar. Sage finishes the dish.
This is a modern main course with Italian flavors, not a traditional pasta classic. The combination is built on contrast: salty, spiced sausage against juicy grapes, with soft gnocchi and the occasional golden-brown crust. Fennel seeds complement the seasoning in Italian sausage; red wine vinegar keeps the sauce fresh and stops the fruit’s sweetness from taking over.
Grapes are widely in season in the Netherlands, especially in late summer and fall, but you can make this dish year-round with firm, seedless table grapes. Black or red grapes give the sauce a darker color and often a fuller flavor; green grapes stay fresher and more tart. Leave very small grapes whole and halve larger ones so they soften along with the sausage. If the fruit doesn’t release much juice, add a small splash of water or broth.
The gnocchi are briefly boiled first and then fried in a large skillet. Draining them well is important: wet gnocchi are more likely to steam than brown. Fry them in a single layer and give them time to form a crust before turning them over. If your pan isn’t large enough, fry them in two batches. Meanwhile, you can cook the sausage and grapes in a second pan; this helps the gnocchi stay crispier when everything comes together.
For the best results, use raw Italian pork sausage and squeeze the meat out of its casing. Regular fresh pork sausage works too; add the fennel seeds from the recipe for that anise-like spiced flavor. If your sausage is already strongly seasoned, taste before adding extra salt. A knob of butter can round out the sauce, but it isn’t necessary: the fat from the sausage and the juice from the grapes already make a flavorful base.
Serve right away, perhaps with a simple green salad or bitter leaves such as radicchio for contrast. Cover leftovers and refrigerate them within two hours; they’ll keep for up to two days. Reheat them in a skillet with a small splash of water until piping hot throughout; the gnocchi will be less crisp than when freshly fried.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the gnocchi according to the package directions. Drain and let them steam dry thoroughly.
Squeeze the sausage meat out of its casings. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the meat with the fennel seeds for 5–7 minutes, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon as it cooks, until browned and cooked through.
Add the shallot and cook for 2 minutes. Add the grapes and broth and simmer gently for 5–7 minutes, until some of the grapes burst open and the liquid becomes juicy.
Meanwhile, heat a second large skillet over medium-high to high heat. Fry the drained gnocchi in a single layer in 1–2 batches, adding an extra splash of oil if needed, for about 6–8 minutes until golden brown. Turn them over occasionally.
Stir the sage and red wine vinegar into the sausage and grape mixture. Add the fried gnocchi and toss to coat them in the sauce. Season with black pepper and taste to see if they need salt.
Divide among warm plates and serve immediately.
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