Roasted Red Grape Salsa

Perusing my Pintrest connections introduced me to roasting grapes. Who would have thought taking lovely grapes and heating them up was a good idea? Well, I did. Genius! I thought. So off we went on a roasted grape adventure. The recipes that inspired me are here and here and are very nice ideas in my opinion. I intend to try them both. However I needed a buffet style dish and wanted to try making some flour tortilla chips, here is what happened--

Roasted Red Grape Salsa
4 cup small red grapes, rinsed and dried
2 tablespoons grape seed oil (or canola oil)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon sliced green onion
1 tablespoon chopped pistachios
1 cup crumbled bacon (cooked crisp)
Optional:Up to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper or 1 tablespoon diced jalapeno pepper
crackers, chips, flat bread or toast for serving
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Toss the grapes with the oil and place in a single layer on a roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Transfer to a glass mixing bowl, using a rubber scrapper to get all the juices from the pan into the bowl. Stir in the rosemary, green onion, pistachios, bacon (and red pepper or jalapeno if using). Check for seasoning and add more salt if needed. Serve at room temperature with crackers, chips, flat bread or toast. (See hints for additional serving ideas.)

Hints: If your grapes are larger, you may need to roast them a bit longer. You can chop the grapes on the roasting pan or even puree them before you add the other ingredients if you want a smoother product. Adding the spicy peppers may be just what you are looking for but is not necessary to have a flavorful, intriguing dish. I think this would be good served over pork medallions or grilled chicken. Or smoothed over fresh mozzarella in a panini. It would also be awesome served over a block of cream cheese with crackers.

Here are the grapes on my roasting pan--roasting pans are different than cookie sheets in that they are battle scarred and tough looking. They have taken the heat in many situations and have developed the perfect patina for their calling in life. I admire my roasters, tough old soldiers!