Tag: casserole

Smokey sausage casserole

Hello all. I’m using up all of the ingredients at the bottom of the freezer, ready for the mutton carcase that is coming tomorrow. I’m very excited; meat from local crofts is usually of exceptionally high quality and good flavour. 

This recipe used a pack of six pork sausages that we had bought because they were reduced. You could use more sausages quite easily. I’ve made this a few times, and think I have finally got it to my satisfaction. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 pack of sausages
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 stick of celery, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 peppers, (green or red, your choice) roughly chopped
  • 1 tsp smokey paprika
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
  • (as an alternative to paprika and chilli, you could use flakes of chipotle chilli)
  • 2 cans of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 can of cannellini beans or red kidney beans
  • 1 bag of spinach, around 200g

METHOD:

  • Heat the oil in the bottom of your chosen casserole dish, and fry the sausages until they are browned all over, and then set aside. 
  • In the same pan, fry the onion over a low heat for around five minutes, and when it starts to soften, add the celery, garlic and peppers, along with the spices, and cook for another five minutes. 
  • Add the chopped tomatoes, beans and sausages, and turn up the heat until the stew is simmering. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Check from time to time, stir and add a little water if necessary. 
  • At the end of the cooking time, rinse and roughly chop the spinach and add it to the pot. Once it has wilted, the stew is ready to serve. 

It would be quite possible to leave out the spinach and still have a splendid stew. We like this with mashed potatoes, or with crusty bread. 

 

Italian Sausage Casserole

In the freezer I had a large Italian pork sausage, flavoured with fennel. I made this stew, which could be made with any good quality coarse pork sausage, for example a Cumberland sausage. The stew is very easy to make, and we served it with creamed potato and celeriac mash, and sea kale florets. 

INGREDIENTS;

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Coarse Italian pork sausages, or similar – around 500g of sausages or a little more
  • 1 large onion, finely sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, or other chilli powder
  • 1 tsp date syrup, or treacle or dark brown sugar
  • 1 can chopped tomatoes
  • 300ml stock
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 tsp mixed herbs (I used the mystery herbs from Italy)
  • salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • Fry the sausages in the oil in a large frying pan for around 8 minutes, until they are browned. Transfer to a casserole dish. 
  • Fry the onions in the same pan over a medium heat, for around 5 minutes, until they are beginning to brown.
  • Add the crushed garlic and chilli, and cook, stirring for another couple of minutes
  • Add the stock, tomatoes, puree and herbs, and bring to a simmer. For children who don’t like finding bits of onion in their food, you can puree the sauce at this stage. 
  • Pour over the sausages in the casserole dish, and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. 

This tastes better if it is not boiling hot, let it sit for a few minutes whilst preparing the mash and vegetables.