A twist on Matt Tebbutt’s sausage casserole with butternut squash and sage

This sausage casserole is a recipe I’ve made several times over the years. It appears the Saturday Kitchen cooking bible and is by Matt Tebbutt. It’s perfect when the heating’s on and the weather outside is rubbish. I’ve given it a bit of a twist by using the new gluten free venison and black pepper sausages from Wild and Game. I’m sure he won’t mind as they elevate this already comforting autumnal dish into something pretty special.

Wild and Game sell a whole range of products including pies, sausages and pates using British game meat. Their range includes meat from game birds like grouse and pheasant through to venison,  and wild boar. I’ve previously tried their pate range and can confirm that it’s delicious. They recently introduced a gluten free range of burgers and sausages and they kindly sent me some to try. Game is something I enjoy eating and whilst it isn’t always readily available to eat at home unless you have a butcher who stocks it, it’s becoming more common thanks to people like Wild and Game and Marks & Spencer.

As the weather is starting to turn, the nights are drawing in and there’s a slight chill in the air, I thought I’d use the venison and black pepper sausages in this casserole by Saturday Kitchen chef and presenter Matt Tebbutt. Their rich meaty flavour really sang through and added a touch of luxe to what is most usually cooked as an autumnal mid week meal. I also switched out pumpkin for butternut squash although the result is incredibly similar as these two vegetables are so closely related. Sausages symbolise comfort to me, I just love them and enjoy them as much in a casserole as I do in a butty with a splodge of brown sauce. These ones are really delicious.

I used homegrown onions and squash in this meal which makes me so proud as we only moved into our house in March and are novice gardeners. I have big plans for our veggie patch next year though!

You can see Matt Tebbutt’s original recipe on the BBC Good Food website and below you’ll find my tweaked version:

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 50g salted butter
• 1 packet of Wild & Game GF venison and black pepper sausages
• 3 small onions – 1 sliced, 2 finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves crushed and finely diced
• A butternut squash (or two small ones, like mine), peeled seeds removed, cut into equal-sized pieces. Matt uses pumpkin here.
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 400g tin of drained butterbeans
• 250ml stock (I used vegetable but original recipe calls for chicken)
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped sage
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, to serve

Method:

This is very close to Matt Tebbutt’s original recipe: 

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
• Heat half the butter in a large casserole over a medium heat and fry the sausages for 4-5 minutes, or until golden-brown all over.
• Add the remaining butter and onion and fry for three minutes, or until softened. Next, add the garlic and sage leaves and cook for a further three minutes, stirring well.
• Add the pumpkin and stir the mixture until well combined. Increase the heat to high and add the white wine vinegar. Continue to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.
• Stir in the sugar, tomatoes, beans and stock and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Bring the mixture to the boil, then transfer the casserole to the oven for one hour, or until the sausages are cooked through and the pumpkin is tender.
• To serve, ladle the casserole into two large bowl and sprinkle with the parsley.

Looking for more sausage recipes?

Here are some recipes from my sausage archives (oooerrr!). Take a look!

• Chorizo style sausage and rigatoni bake
• Wartime sausage pie 
• Budget friendly sausage chilli
• End of the month sausage casserole