One of the things I love about my Vicarage cooker (my treat when we moved here) is its small slow oven. The slow oven is a bit titchy – only big enough for one large pot or only a single baking sheet of meringues, but I am using it more and more for winter casseroles. Tonight I cooked sausage casserole – one of our top favourites which has a few variations but is always very popular with the kids (and grown ups too).
I make this using Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference chipolatas. I’d recommend using good quality ones as cheap ones can come out rather spongey. And you only need to use a single packet to feed a family and can get that for about £2 if there’s an offer on.
The Vicar's dinner
Ingredients
- 1-2 onions, finely sliced
- Pack of sausages
- 2 cups (500ml) lentilles vertes or green lentils
- Bay leaves, mixed herbs
- Red wine (about a glassful) and stock
- Optional – tin of tomatoes, chunked carrots
Brown the sausages in your casserole dish and then remove them to a plate or bowl whilst you pop in a little oil or butter and the onions. Leave the onions to get nice and soft then return the sausages, chopped up into bite sized chunks, to the pan. Tonight I chopped the sausages with a spatula before I removed them and fried the onions, otherwise you can slice them with a knife once removed – I recommend pinning them to the chopping board with a fork rather than fingers (I speak from experience of burnt fingers and escaping sausages).
To the onions and sausages add the lentils, bay leaves and herbs and wine and stock (I use hot water and vegetable stock powder). This evening’s casserole also included a tin of chopped tomatoes. The liquid needs to be added to a generous level above the lentils and sausages – say 5cm/2″ in your pan. This gives space for the lentils to swell and liquid to evaporate.
Bring to the boil and then simmer for at least 1/2hr on the hob, or pop in a slow oven at about 140ºC (Gas Mark 1) for a couple of hours or more. The slow cooking method has the advantage of keeping the Vicarage kitchen warm, so this is obviously my preferred option.
I tend to check the casserole every hour or so if it’s in the oven, just to make sure that there is still enough liquid. If you’re adding carrots it’s best to do so about half an hour before the end of the cooking time, otherwise they can get a bit soggy. Add salt and pepper to taste before serving and add a little extra liquid if needed to ensure a bit of sauce to soak into the essential accompaniment of mash.
As you can see, I served the casserole with mashed sweet and normal potatoes, and some braised red cabbage. This is a great winter warmer and excellent value for money. We had leftovers that will do well with a bit of chunky bread for lunches whilst the kids are at shcool.
The Vicar's Wife 
My sausage chopping tip is to hold in a pair of tongs while snipping with kitchen scissors. Simple!
There is a very similar recipe to this on the BBC good food website which also has smoked bacon in it. I cook it in my slow cooker for about 9 hours, it’s delicious. I use tinned green lentils but only put these in towards the end because they go mushy if you cook them for too long.
Do you think this would work with Quorn sausages too? Looks like an ideal recipe for a student’s budget!
Quite possibly. Not sure whether they get spongy like cheap meat ones tho’. It’s the salty pork taste that mixes well with the lentils, so I’d guess the Quorn ones might be a bit like that. Want to try it and report back?