Syrah-Poached Dried Fig and Sausage Skewer

This skewered fig and pork sausage hors d'oeuvre was created for a food and wine pairing in Sonoma, California. The original used wild boar, but it's delicious with almost any pork sausage.

The dried figs are ideally poached in the same wine that this skewer is going to be served with.

Makes 32 Dried Fig and Sausage Skewer Appetizers

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup syrah, or other red wine
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• 16 dried black mission figs, halved
• 1 pound (4 links) pork sausage
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup picked watercress leaves
• 1/2 cup crushed hazelnuts
• small bamboo skewers

Preparation:

In a small saucepan, over medium heat, bring the wine, sugar, and pepper to a simmer. Add the figs, and simmer for 15 minutes. The figs will absorb some of the wine, but not become too soft. Remove the figs from the wine mixture and let cool completely on a plate. In a pan, cook the sausage in vegetable oil until done, let cool to room temperature and cut each sausage into 8 pieces.

Push a skewer into a fig half, then through a watercress leaf, and then into a sausage piece. When all the sausage and figs are skewered, sprinkle the crushed hazelnuts on a serving platter, and serve the skewers on top.

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