Sausage & Bean Cassoulet

This is the perfect winter dish. Now that the evenings are drawing in, and the temperature is dropping, nothing beats a warm, hearty dinner. Even if your short on time, this recipe is relatively quick and easy. I would say around 45 minutes maximum, including prep work.

I originally saw a similar recipe on Rosie's blog. Her photos looked so good, almost good enough to eat, and so I immediately sent the link to Stew. We gave the dish a little twist, and made it more our own, by sort of following a couple of recipes and putting them all together.

Packed full of vegetables, you could easily make this dish vegan, by not having the sausages. As this cassoulet is filling in itself, we served with a slice or two of focaccia bread, but it would also go great with rice. However, depending on your need of carbs and the size of your appetite, you may wish to eat it on it's own as it's full of tasty and healthy beans. A great substitute for the usual potatoes/pasta etc.

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 6 pork and leek sausages
• 1 pepper, sliced
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• Handful mushrooms, quartered
• 3 vine tomatoes, cut into 8 segments each
• 1 chilli, kept whole
• 1 can of butter beans, drained
• 1 can borlotti beans, drained
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 300mls chicken or vegetable stock
• 6 sprigs of fresh thyme

Method:

1. Add one tablespoon of olive oil to a medium heat pan. Soften the onion for 5 minutes.
2. Add the garlic, pepper, tomatoes and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
3. At the same time cook your sausages in a griddle pan, on a medium-low heat, for 20-25 minutes.
4. Add everything else to the main pan, stir thoroughly and simmer with the lid off to reduce a fraction.
5. When the sausages are done, slice 4 of the sausages and add them to the bean mixture.
6. Serve in a bowl with the remaining sausage placed on top, thyme to garnish and plenty of black pepper! Plus add a sprinkling of parmesan for some extra heavenly indulgence.

This meal went perfectly with the Focaccia bread that we made earlier in the afternoon. You can find the recipe for that by  clicking the link above.