Try this sausage casserole for a real “comfort food” experience. Recipe courtesy of Aoife McElwain, Journalist for the Irish Independent and Totally Dublin. Her wonderful blog, I can has cook, is well worth a read. Read the full article by clicking here.
What you need for a sausage casserole for 4 to 5 people
Olive oil
10 – 12 Jack McCarthy’s of Kanturk sausages of your choice (or the absolutely most delicious alternative you can find)
1 large onion, sliced into half moon shapes
2 large parsnips, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 – 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 tablespoon of fennel seeds
2 tins of good quality chopped tomatoes
Salt and pepper
A handful of fresh parsley (flat leaf or curly) finely chopped
Preheat your oven to 200 deg C
Heat some oil in an oven-proof casserole dish on a medium to high heat on the hob.
If you don’t have an oven-proof casserole dish suitable for hob use, you can do this first part in a very deep frying pan and transfer mix to an oven-proof dish once it’s ready for the oven.
Start by browning your sausages. You want them to get a good bit of colour so cook them for at least ten minutes, turning to ensure even colour. Once browned, remove from pot and set aside.
In the same pot, fry your onion, carrots, parsnips and fennel seeds for five to ten minutes, stirring constantly. Add a little more oil if you need to. You want the onion to start to soften and the other vegetables to get started off cooking.
Once your onions have turned golden and begin to soften, you can now return the sausages to the pot. Then add your two tins of chopped tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
Mix everything evenly. Top up with boiling hot water (you can also use a bit of vegetable stock here) so that all of the sausages and vegetables are covered with the tomato sauce.
Now put the oven-proof casserole in the oven, uncovered. Checking and stirring from time to time, cook the lot for between 45 minutes and one hour, until the parsnips and carrots are cooked through and deliciously soft.
You can either eat it immediately, or let it cool and rest for a few hours so the flavours get to know each other. Then you can reheat it in the oven for 15 minutes.
Serve with a sprinkling of chopped parsley, some crusty white bread and a glass of good red wine.