Monday 21 October 2013

Sausage Casserole

Adapted from the Hairy Biker's 'Special Cassoulet' diet recipe

Feeds 4ish dieting people or 2 normal people with a bit left over for lunch the next day. 
About 450-500 calories/portion

2-3 leftover rashers pancetta because they need using up
6 herby sausages, decent quality
1/2 an inadvisably purchased GIANT onion (or one medium one), sliced
2 cloves of garlic, walloped so's they split a bit
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
2 moderate leeks, topped and chopped
150ml red wine (drink the rest)
300ml and half a tomato tin of water
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/2 tsp caster sugar
Pepper, black, freshly ground if possible
1 tin-sized tin butter beans, drained and rinsed.

1. Pour relatively generous glass of wine. Read the original HB cassoulet recipe. Realise have forgotten to defrost chicken, neglected to purchase gammon and that the tin of canalli... cannol... camellini... Italian-sounding beans you thought were in the cupboard have metamorphosed into six tins of red kidney beans. 
2. Recall the ridiculous article in the Sun last week that stated 5 kidney beans can kill a man. Snort derisively. 
3. Get on with it. 

4. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees fan, gas mark work it out yourself)
5. In a fancy iron casserole dish, heat a little sunflower oil over a medium heat.
6. Twist the sausages in the middle and cut to make 12 sausagettes. Reflect that sausagettes is a better band name than (for example) "Wand Erection". Cut up pancetta into bits. 
7. Fry the sausagettes and pancetta for a few minutes until browning, then chuck in the onion. 
8. Add the garlic, carrot and leek, tin of tomatoes (swooshing out the tin with your 1/2 tin of water), wine, water, bay leaf, chilli flakes and sugar. Stir. 
9. Realise have forgotten to raid the thyme in the garden and it is now spookydark. Substitute dried thyme.
10. Chuck in some pepper. Stir again. 
11. Let it bubble, bung on lid shove into oven for 1/2 hour. Pour another glass of wine. Accept that today's calorie count may be a little forgetful. 
12. Remove from oven, stir in beans, shove back in oven for 1/2 hour. 



Serve with chunks of homemade sourdough and an air of domestic capability that you probably don't deserve. Fend cats off of leftovers so you have something to take for lunch. 

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