I’m off to LA tomorrow for work and won’t be home until Thursday afternoon so I thought I’d make something new as a ‘last supper’ tea for Dave. He’ll be living on a mix of pizza and chips and tuna cobs until I return so I felt it was only right to give him something homemade and vaguely nourishing before I left.
We nipped into our local Budgen’s supermarket in Mountsorrel earlier and bought some lovely Farmer Fear’s pork sausages which were on offer so I decided to make a cassoulet. With this in mind, I started browsing my cookbooks and looking at various recipes online but couldn’t 100% decide on which recipe to go with. There were various online which looked appealing, in particular by Gino D’Campo, Nigel Slater and Jamie Oliver. But, as I said, none felt quite right so I created my own amalgamation of several different variations on the theme.
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| Farmer Fear meats come from quality local farms meaning there is little impact on the environment and no carbon footprint. I am a BIG FAN. |
Ingredients:
Excuse my ‘loose’ measurements, cooking in our family has never been too precise. Suck and See method!
- 6 good quality pork sausages
- 1 tin of cannellini beans
- 1 tin of plum tomatoes
- approx 4 rashers smoky bacon diced
- 50g green beans (topped and tailed)
- 1 onion diced
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- pinch of sugar & seasoning
- Glug of red wine
- Sprinkle with fresh thyme
- Glug of olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 100ml beef stock (I’m sure veg would work fine).
Method:
(This is where it gets a bit woolly!)
- You can either fry or grill the sausages until nicely browned, then set aside for later.
- Pan fry the diced bacon for a few mins until beginning to crisp. Turn the heat down and add the onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 mins.
- At this point, I added a glug of red wine and let it bubble for a few mins to cook off the alcohol.
- Add the tomatoes, green beans, a pinch of sugar, the stock and bay leaf. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for approx 10 mins, stirring regularly.
- Transfer to a casserole dish and add the beans and sausages.
- Put this in for approx 15 mins in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees (fan). This will cook the sausages and soften the beans. The sauce will also thicken.
- Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley and serve with crusty bread or rice.
Here is how the finished thing should look!
As I said, I’m off to LA very early in the morning. With three evenings worth of eating to fill, I’m hoping I’ll find some great American grub to talk to you about!
Over and Out..