This is a Mediterranean dish that can be done more authentically if you can get your hands on branches of fresh edible bay (laurel), but that’s not always easy (you could use rosemary or fennel branches quite successfully, and they’re equally traditional, though obviously different in flavor). In the original version, you throw a few branches of bay (laurel) onto a grill and top with sausage. My oven method uses somewhat less bay and is virtually foolproof. Other cuts of meat you can use here: chunks of pork or lamb, cut from the shoulder, or boneless chicken thighs.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　1 or 2 branches fresh bay leaves or 50 or 60 dried bay leaves

　　1 1/2 to 2 pounds fresh garlic sausage

　　3 navel oranges

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Lay the bay leaves on the bottom of a roasting pan and top them with the sausage; prick the sausage in a few places with a thin-bladed knife. Put in the oven for about 15 minutes, turning once or twice, until browned.

　　

Step 2

Meanwhile, peel the oranges and cut them into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Top the sausage with the orange slices and bake until the sausage is cooked through, about 10 more minutes. Serve the sausage and the orange slices (do not eat the bay leaves).

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.