Sausage Cassoulet

Winter is well and truly here, and I don’t know about you all, but I need some pure comfort food. I’m talking meat, I’m talking root vegetables and I’m talking one-pot so you don’t have much cleaning to face afterwards, when you’re all full and cosy.

Well hello, cassoulet.

This is a cosy winter stew if ever I saw one. Except, it’s better than a stew (not a huge stew fan, sorry Ireland). It’s flavourful and colourful and warming and filling and only a little stodgy, in that good way that you need sometimes when you’ve come in from the rain and Christmas shopping and you’re all cold and hungry and in need of rejuvenation.

I basically threw in whatever veggies I had, and it made one really simple and delicious meal. For an authentic French experience (this dish has its origins there, after all) serve with a hunk of baguette.

Serves 2 with leftovers

Ingredients

• 6 sausages, meat of your choosing
• 1 large sweet potato
• 2 carrots
• 1 leek
• 1/2 green pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tin of white beans, I went with haricot
• 2 tbsp chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp sage
• 1 tsp thyme
• 300ml vegetable stock

Method

Fry off the sausages in a large pan and set aside when browned on the outside.

While they’re frying, peel and dice your sweet potato into small cubes.

Add a little oil to the pan the sausages were cooked in, and fry the sweet potatoes for 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent them catching.

While that’s happening, prep your other veggies – peel and dice the carrots, slice the leek, dice the pepper, and crush the garlic.

Tip it all into the pan and stir well. Cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Add in the beans and cook for a few minutes.

Then add in the chopped tomatoes, herbs and stock.

Mix well and cover with a lid. Bring to a simmer and let bubble away for 5-10 minutes.

Add the sausages back in and cook for another 10 minutes. 

After this stage the carrots and sweet potatoes should be soft and cooked through, and most of the liquid should have cooked off.

Pile onto a plate and dig in!