Sausage is the star of this quick, flavorful sheet-pan dinner

Of all the options for cooking sausage links (boiling, grilling, sauteing, etc.), my favorite is the one that seems to come up the least — roasting.

Roasting is easy, tasty and requires a minimum amount of cleanup (all the fat-spattering happens in the oven). But there's also usually extra room on the baking sheet, which gives you the option to add other ingredients into the mix, turning a pan of roasted sausages into a meal.

The choice of additional ingredients is entirely up to you. Onions, peppers, even sauerkraut can be roasted along with your favorite brats. Just toss some sliced buns in the oven at the very end to get them a little toasty before filling.

Fruits work well, too. Sweet, salty and savory can make a powerful flavor combination. Sliced apples, peaches or pears all roast well and go beautifully with all kinds of sausages, but they can be especially fun for a brunch, paired with sage-scented breakfast sausage.

Of course, in most cases, sausage is the star of the show, so it makes sense to get high quality. Picking up something in the meat section of your favorite supermarket might be the most convenient option, and while those sausages will work fine in a sheet pan dinner, if you haven't explored your local butcher shop, this might be a good reason to do so.

Most local butchers also make their own sausages. Why is this important? For one, they know what's in them, and they typically use high-quality ingredients. They also may have fun and delicious flavor varieties that might be hard to find other places.

My No. 1 reason, though, for shopping at a local butcher shop is actually the butcher.

A butcher in a neighborhood shop is usually excited to talk to you about their product. They will tell you their favorite way to cook a particular cut. They will talk to you about what you're planning on making and steer (pardon the pun) you in the right direction if there's a cut of meat that might work better in your recipe. If you dig deep, they likely can also tell you where the meat comes from and how it is raised.

For this week's recipe, Roasted Sausage Dinner with Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts in Mustard Vinaigrette, I stopped by Clancey's Meats in Minneapolis' Linden Hills neighborhood. They have an extensive selection of sausages and owner Kristin Tombers is more than happy to talk about them all. In the end, I went with two different types, a traditional brat and a smoky, garlicky Ukrainian sausage. Both pair perfectly with the baby potatoes and Brussels sprouts roasted alongside the sausages.

Although you can and should season your vegetables before roasting, in this recipe, a vibrant mustard vinaigrette is drizzled over the hot-out-of-the-oven vegetables, giving them a bold freshness that stands up well to the full-flavored sausages.

Serves 4.

Note: Mustard pairs well with almost any kind of sausage, so this quick and easy dinner is a great place to experiment with different flavors. From Meredith Deeds.

• 1 lb. Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthwise

• 1 lb. small Yukon Gold potatoes, quartered

• 1 large red onion, cut into 1/2-in. wedges

• 4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided

• 3/4 tsp. salt, divided

• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

• 1 lb. fresh sausage links (Italian, bratwurst, etc. about 4 to 6 links)

• 2 tbsp. whole grain Dijon mustard

• 1 tbsp. white wine vinegar

• 1 tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a large, rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

Place Brussels sprouts, potatoes and onions in a large bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Arrange vegetables in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Stir vegetables.

Poke a few small holes in each sausage with the tip of a sharp knife. Place on baking sheet with vegetables and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until sausages are cooked through and vegetables are browned and tender.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl place mustard, vinegar, parsley and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Slowly whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons oil.

Drizzle vinaigrette over the roasted vegetables and serve alongside the sausages.

Meredith Deeds is a cookbook author and food writer from Edina. Reach her at meredithdeeds@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram ­at @meredithdeeds.