Sunday Dinner Sausage Casserole

This is a quick and easy recipe, good to save the day when you had nothing planned and only basic ingredients to hand. It's versatile too, so you can make it as down to earth or up market as you like.

Sausage Casserole

Casserole sausages from Ocado

1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion sliced
1 brown onion sliced
3 medium cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
Pinch sage
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 teaspoon of oregano / marjoram
(or use a generous half teaspoon of mixed herbs instead of the above 3 if you have)
500 g good quality pork sausages
A good squirt of tomato puree (about 1.5 tablespoons)
1 glass of red wine
1/4 pint stock of your choice (I used vegetable)
2 tins good quality chopped tomatoes
6 chestnut mushrooms, quartered
Salt and pepper
Pinch of sugar





Heat the oil in a large pan and gently fry the onions and garlic until soft. Sprinkle in the bay leaf, paprika and herbs (you could add some chilli at this point if you like) and mix well. Add the sausages and turn up the heat, stirring until the sausages are lightly browned, but don't let the onions catch. Add in the tomato purée and a glass of red wine, ensure the mix boils to get rid of the harsh alcohol taste but leave the sauce rich. Next add in the stock, tomatoes and mushrooms. Stir. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for at least an hour until the sausages are soft and cooked and the sauce is thick but fluid. Add extra stock or water if needed as you cook. Towards the end of the cooking time add a good pinch of sugar to bring out the best in the tomatoes.

We had ours served with roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and tender stem broccoli.

The sausages were soft and tasty and the sauce was rich with tomato and wine, The garlic, herbs and wine were subtle, the onions were sweet with just a little bit of texture.

This is  a really good way to get the children to eat vegetables, you could as easily serve it with rice, couscous or pasta or some creamy mash.

Experiment with herbs and spices and/or flavoured sausages, try adding beans - butter beans would be really good.

Try adding extra vegetables like red peppers, courgettes, fennel or some olives. If you have people who don't like vegetables much, take the sausages out, process the sauce and then put the sausages back.


Yorkshire Puddings - makes 6

40g flour
2 large eggs
pinch salt
100ml milk

Mix all the ingredients and beat well until you have a smooth batter. Chill in the fridge. Put some oil in the bottom of the holes of a non stick muffin tin and heat in the oven at GM7/220C/425F. When the oil is hot, remove from the oven, divide the mixture between the "holes" and cook for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and well risen.

Yorkshires - well risen