Sausage with fruit compote, coleslaw and spätzle

An incredibly quick and easy dish, sausage with tangy fruit sauce, is my nod to some of the Baltic flavours I love without in any way being traditional or authentic. These recipes use simple ingredients available in many parts of the world to create a meal that has a sense of comfort food to it, but with a little twist.

Wurstsprung durch Technik

This sausage with tangy fruit sauce—more of a compote or chutney—is the result of my craving Northern European flavours, especially now that spring is threatening to loom and what was readily to hand. And, I'm delighted with the result, so thought I should share it.

It will work with any number of Polish or German sausages, both those that are more heavily smoked or, like these, not. I first tried it out with a Polish smoked sausage, but am now doing it with what purports to be a (reputedly) Thüringer Bratwurst. Hmm, I remain suspicious: I can't taste all the herbs I expected. I should have gone to a German-owned supermarket...

The fruit compote here is extremely tangy; most definitely a sweet 'n sour experience on the more extreme end of the spectrum, which means that you want to use it sparingly on the sausages. Alternatively, you can reduce both the amounts of sugar and vinegar and cook down for longer for a less "zingy" flavour. But, if you do so, the fruit will inevitably soften and break down to a far greater degree. Part of what I was aiming for is that there should still be a little crunch left in the apples, though fully cooked, something I pulled off.

Similarly, while you can whip all of this together in 40mins if you coordinate things well, I would suggest that you pace yourself and do the sauce first—eating it for the second time since storing it in the fridge, the flavours have deepened—and the coleslaw will also last well for a couple of days.

A Romanian Mystery

I first came across the first sausages I used while searching for lower fat sausages. I was intrigued that they contain three times the amount of chicken as pork. As it turns out, they're only slightly lower in fat than your average UK supermarket sausage.

Also, I assumed they were Romanian—mainly due to the words "Romanian Delicacies" emblazoned across the pack in English—even though they were nothing like any of the Romanian sausage varieties I know. Then I noticed the words "product of Poland" and got nosey. After the inevitable online searching revealed little factual clarity, I turned to Polish people I know in the UK. Some just laughed derisively: "That's what they feed to kids in Poland." One person told me that she thought the producer had some kind of Romanian roots, another told me it was pure marketing invention, in the way that "Weiner sausages" in the US bear no relation to Austrian sausages or many Danes see "Danish pastries" as a Viennese thing.

Basically, I'm really none the wiser. But here's what I can tell you: if you have fond memories of American hot dogs from the 1970s, you'll love these Polish smoked sausages. They are the antithesis of European gastronomic culture, 100% unchallenging and reassuring in that completely artificial-tasting way. Think "short fat hot dog made with chicken". And, indeed, it is the relative blandness that works so well with this rather extreme sauce.

That said, once I'd purged myself on childish nostalgic flavours and textures, I tried it with some proper bratwurst made by a friend of mine who is a genius amateur sausage maker—and guzzled it without taking pictures. So, now I'm on to the supermarket variety. And, to be blunt, I think this is the future direction I'll take it unless, like the circumstances that gave rise to this one, I only have these quotidian Polish ones to hand. Today, I'm making it with bratwurst bought in a mainstream UK supermarket that I suspect they have been nowhere near Thuringia.

Please note the photos are a mélange of all these sausage encouters.

3 top tips to get this recipe right:

• The coleslaw — in many regions in Germany or Namibia, the the coleslaw dressing is given the right consistency by "thinning" the mayonnaise with a little apple cider vinegar or vinegar. But, I find using balsamico, though it will darken the colour of the slaw, gives a deeper flavour and using yoghurt in lieu of the milk means it will keep longer in the fridge if you make a large batch

• It's actually entirely up to you how you cook the sausages. With the Polish ones, I simply poached them, but with the bratwurst, I'm cooking them on a non-stick roasting tray in the oven. Up to you.

• Similarly, with the spätzle, it doesn't really matter if you use dried or fresh. I've been blessed with Karel's kind gift of both kinds. So fresh in one version, dried in the other... When I did it with the Polish sausage, I was a bit Calvinist, limiting the ingredients—which was great, by the way—but with the bratwurst, I'm going the full hog, including cheese

This recipe serves 2 to 3 diners. You can easily scale it up for larger groups.

Shopping list

for the sausage with fruit compote

• 2 or 3 sausages of choice per diner

• 2 small ripe apples, cored and roughly chopped

• 1 fresh pear, cored and roughly chopped

• 1 fresh plum; de-stoned, skinned and chopped

• 1 tspn pimentón

• 2 tbspns of demerara sugar

• 2 tbspns balsamic vinegar

• 2 or 3 bay leaves

• 1 tspn butter

• ½ boiling water

• A generous clutch of parsley, chopped

• salt and pepper
  

for the coleslaw

• ½ a cabbage—hispi of Savoy—sliced

• 2 or 3 carrots; peeled and grated or finely sliced

• or 6 gherkins, finely sliced; optional

• mayonnaise, to taste

• 1 tbspn balsamic vinegar

• 2 tbspns Greek-style yoghurt

• Salt and black pepper

• A little lemon juice

for the spätzle

• 4 echalion shallots (or onion), sliced

• 2 tbspns caraway seeds

• A little butter or olive oil

• ⅓ of a cup of hard cheese (such as Emmental) or "Bergkäse"

• creamed horseradish (optional)

• salt and pepper

• 100g of closed cup mushrooms, sliced (optional)

Cooking Method

the sausage with fruit compote

1. Make your fruit compote first. In a small saucepan, melt your butter on a medium heat and throw in the apples, pears and plums as soon as it sizzles. Stir regularly. Season with salt and pepper and add the pimentón

2. In the interim, place the sausages on a non-stick baking tray and heat in the oven or poach in hot water

3. When the fruit becomes soft, add the half-cup of boiling water, sugar and balsamico. Stir as it reduces, uncovered, adding the bay leaves after it has simmered for a few minutes

4. Mix in the chopped parsley and stir, reducing still further until you achieve the required consistency
   

for the coleslaw

1. You can actually do this days in advance. When you grate or slice the peeled carrots, dress with a little lemon juice to prevent browning. Mix the carrots and cabbage together, adding the chopped gherkins (if using)

2. Fold in the mayonnaise and add the vinegar and yoghurt. Season with salt and pepper and return to the fridge until just before plating

3. Good German coleslaw is a thing of beauty. Treat it with respect.

for the spätzle

1. While you boil your spätzle in a pot of salted water, bring a little butter to the bubble in a frying pan, then add the onions and caraway seeds and stir in. If using, add the sliced mushrooms and sauté

2. After about 12mins, drain the spätzle and add to the pan

3. Turn off the heat once all the ingredients are cooked the the spätzle warmed through. Add the grated cheese or "Bergkäse, gently melting it in. Plate and take to table

Alternatives

I have very rarely cooked it for vegans and vegetarians. But, when I have done, it's been with soya or alternative sausages and the rest is pretty much the same—though obviously you'll need a vegan alternative to the mayo.

I've not yet done a pescatarian version, but I suspect that it would be fantastic with Artctic char. I once had this fantastic Artic char dish in Oslo—in a cool restaurant in Grünerløkka—which had been oven-roasted. It had these very delicate little black veins in the flesh and was served with Puy lentils. It was utterly fantastic. I think that kind of fish would be great with this dish.

Pairings

I generally enjoy this dish with a good cold beer or, as tonight, with a mineral water with a dab of lime juice. That said, I've really enjoyed it with a good Aussie chardonnay in the past. We need Karel's input on this one, as always.