Sausage Casserole

Ingredients

• 8 thick pork sausages (about 600g)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 1 large red pepper, sliced
• 200g chestnut mushrooms, halved
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 300ml hot vegetable stock
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 15g fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
• Crusty sourdough bread, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based pan over a medium-high heat. Pat the sausages dry and season them with a little salt and pepper — water means steam, and steam means no browning. Brown them in two batches, 6–8 minutes per batch, turning so they take on a deep mahogany colour all over; don't crowd the pan or they'll boil in their own juices. Lift them out and set aside.
2. Turn the heat down to medium and add the onions with a pinch of salt. Sweat them gently for 6–7 minutes until soft, translucent and just catching gold at the edges — you're building the base flavour here, so don't rush it.
3. Stir in the garlic, carrots and red pepper and cook for 3–4 minutes until the garlic is fragrant and pale gold. Watch it — burnt garlic turns the whole casserole bitter, so 30 seconds is the difference between sweet and spoiled.
4. Add the mushrooms and cook another 3 minutes until they release their juices and start to brown at the edges. The pan should be coated in dark sticky bits — that's flavour, and the tomatoes will lift it in a moment.
5. Stir in the tomato purée and fry for a full minute until it darkens and smells jammy rather than raw. Tip in the chopped tomatoes along with the hot vegetable stock — the stock breaks the tomatoes down so they taste of summer fruit, not tin — then add the butter beans, red lentils, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and bay leaf. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom as it comes up to a simmer.
6. Return the sausages and any resting juices to the pan, cover and simmer gently for 25–30 minutes, stirring once or twice so the lentils don't catch. The sauce should thicken to a glossy, coating consistency and the carrots should be tender but still hold their shape.
7. Discard the bay leaf. Taste the sauce and season — the sausages and Worcestershire bring salt, but the lentils soak it up, so adjust now, not at the table. Stir through most of the parsley.
8. Ladle the casserole into bowls, scatter the reserved parsley over the top, and tear the crusty bread straight in alongside to mop up the sauce.