This is one of our family favourites for a weektime dinner. It scores highly on several fronts: it is easy and fairly quick to assemble; it is tasty; it can be thrown in the oven to look after itself. What more could you ask?
You need to go for good quality sausages for this. I use free range pork sausages, because I believe in supporting free range farming. The problem with very cheap sausages (apart from the welfare issues) is the very high fat content which will make your casserole greasy.
For this recipe you will need: a flame-proof casserole dish. I use a Le Creuset 26 round. It is possible to make this with a heavy frying pan and a ceramic/glass casserole dish, but it’s more work and more washing up! If you choose to do this, do all the frying in your pan, then tip things into the casserole dish, de-glaze the pan with a little of the chopped tomatoes and add the resulting juices to the rest.
Recipe: Sausage Casserole
Summary: A tasty weekday evening meal for all the family.
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, chopped a good slug of olive oil for frying
- 1 clove garlic, crushed or finely chopped
- a good pinch of herbes de provence
- 1 lb/454g free range pork sausages. Usually 8 sausages.
- 1/4 lb / 115g mushrooms, chopped (optional)
- 1 yellow pepper, chopped not too fine (optional)
- 2 tins chopped tomatoes
- 1 tin red kidney beans
- 1 tin butter beans
- 1/2 pint chicken or vegetable stock. I use Kallo Organic cubes. salt and pepper to season.
- a large bayleaf
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to Gas mark 4/ 180C Heat the olive oil in your flame-proof casserole and fry the onions until golden and soft.
- Add the garlic and herbs, stir well and fry for a couple of minutes.
- If you want to do things “properly” you can take out the onion mixture at this point and leave the pan free for the sausages. If you’re in a hurry, just push them to the side and keep moving them around while you fry the sausages to stop them burning.
- Add the sausages and turn up the heat. Keep turning the sausages every few minutes until they are nicely browned all over.
- If you are using mushrooms and yellow pepper, now is the time to add them. If you’re rushed or don’t have any in the house, it’s still good without!
- Pour in the chopped tomates and stir to mix the onions through.
- Drain and rinse the cans of beans, then add to the casserole.
- Add the stock andthe bayleaf and stir again.
- Return to the boil, then put in the oven for about 1 1/2 hours.
Quick Notes
If you need it to go for longer, this dinner will cook well on a lower heat (Gas 3/ 170C) for up to 2 1/2 hours, but you will need to check the liquid levels and you may well need to add some water/ more stock to prevent the dinner drying out and burning. I serve this with rice, carrots and a green vegetable.
Preparation time (duration): 30 minutes
Cooking time (duration): 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours depending on oven temperature chosen
Diet type: Dairy-free
Number of servings (yield): 4
Meal type: dinner
Culinary tradition: French
Microformatting by hRecipe.
Recent Comments