Sausage and Lentil Bake for the Freezer

• 3 tbspolive oil
• 8good pork sausages
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 3carrots, finely diced
• 3celery sticks, finely diced
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tspdried thyme, or 6 sprigs fresh, leaves picked
• 500gdried green lentils, rinsed
• 2 x 400gtins chopped tomatoes
• 1.2litres chicken or vegetable stock
• 200gspinach
• 1 tbspcider vinegar
• fine salt
• black pepper
• 400gspring greens or cabbage, shredded (optional)

Method

1. 1Heat the oven to 200C fan. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in your largest wide pan over a medium-high heat and brown the sausages for 8 minutes, turning, until deep golden all over. They will not be cooked through yet. Set aside.
2. 2Add the rest of the oil to the pan with the onions, carrots and celery and a pinch of salt. Cook for 10 minutes until soft and sweet, scraping up the sausage fat stuck to the pan. Stir in the garlic and thyme for 1 minute until you can smell them.
3. 3Add the lentils, tomatoes and stock with a teaspoon of salt and plenty of pepper. Bring to the boil, then simmer with the lid on for 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the lentils are tender but still holding their shape and the mixture is loose like a thick soup. It thickens in the oven, so do not let it dry out here.
4. 4Stir in the spinach a handful at a time until it wilts, then the vinegar. Taste; lentils take a lot of salt, so add more if it tastes flat.
5. 5Divide the lentils between two baking dishes about 25cm by 20cm. Nestle four sausages into each, browned side up. Bake for 25 minutes until the sausages are dark brown with no pink in the middle and the lentils are bubbling at the edges and thick.
6. 6If serving the optional greens with the first dish, cook them in boiling salted water for about 3 minutes until tender, then drain well and season with pepper. The second dish can be served with freshly cooked greens when reheated.
7. 7Cool the second dish within 2 hours, cover tightly and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat covered at 180C fan for 30 to 35 minutes until piping hot in the centre, adding a splash of water first if the lentils have set firm.

Per serving

kcal

515

protein

28.1g

fibre

10.7g

carbs

54.8g

fat

21.5g