02/11/2017

Sausage, Vegetable & Lentil stew

Sausage, Vegetable & Lentil Stew allows you to stretch good quality, free-range sausages by adding vegetables and pulses. Warming and full of flavour, a portion of this stew will provide at least three of your minimum five a day fruit and vegetables.

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Sausages: quality over quantity, please

I think that a well-made, meaty free-range pork sausage is a wonderful thing. Whether in a simple crusty bread sandwich, bangers and mash, in a classic toad-in-the-hole or, for those of us in North Staffordshire, tucked inside a Staffordshire oatcake with grated cheese.

Unfortunately, many of the sausages bought in Britain are of relatively poor quality with the cheapest having a very low meat content. The legal minimum for pork sausages is 42% meat. Although those labelled simply as ‘sausages’ can have as little as 30% meat.

Is your sausage British?

Believe it or not, sausages sold as ‘British’ may not even contain British meat! So long as the sausages are stuffed in the UK, the meat can come from elsewhere.

Of course, quality sausages containing British, ethically reared, free-range pork and virtually nothing else come at a higher price than those packed with fillers, additives, water and even sugar. Personally though, as with all meat, I feel it’s preferable to eat better quality, but less often.

Make sausages go further with pulses and vegetables

A great way of making superior sausages more affordable is to eke them out by adding vegetables and pulses. That was my goal when I created this Sausage, Vegetable & Lentil Stew, to celebrate UK Sausage Week.

This tasty, warming stew is full of flavour and, with celery, carrots, leeks, onions, garlic and kale. I reckon it contains at least 3 portions per person of your minimum 5 a day . And that’s not even counting the lentils!

I’ve used 4 free range pork sausages, which serves 2 people very generously. If you want to make the dish go further then add more vegetables, lentils and stock. You could also cut the browned sausages into chunks to make them easier to share out.

I like to cook my lentils in advance as I think this makes it less likely to over or undercook them. It also makes the dish quicker as, particularly if you soak them in boiling water for an hour first, they’ll be done by the time the veg is prepped.

Feel free to cook the lentils in the stew if you like; they’ll take up more flavour this way. But you’ll need to increase the cooking time. Possibly between 45 minutes to an hour or more, depending on the age of your lentils and the saltiness of your stock (older lentils and more salt means longer cooking).

Sausages with lentils is a classic combination, but you could substitute any other cooked pulse such as butter beans, haricot beans or chickpeas. However, I don’t recommend cooking these in the stew as they take to long a time, meaning the rest of the dish will be overdone and the vegetables lose their fresh flavour.

Sausage, Vegetable & Lentil Stew: simple to make & freezes well

Sausage, Vegetable & Lentil Stew is really simple to make and freezes well too. Try doubling up the ingredients and you can have a quick, warming evening meal ready in very little time if you take it from the freezer the night before.

First , I brown the sausages well in olive oil and set aside.

I like to include cubes of pancetta or snipped smoked streaky bacon in my sausage stews to add more flavour, so I brown that next, but you can leave this out. After pouring away any excess oil, I add a lump of butter (to give a rich texture and taste) then diced celery, onion, leeks and carrot chunks, garlic and chopped rosemary, seasoning it all with a little salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper.

The veg is sautéed for 10-15 minutes until the onions and leeks are wilting and starting to brown and the carrots are beginning to soften a little. Then the cooked lentils, browned sausages (in chunks if you like) and stock are stirred in, the lid put on and the whole thing simmered for around 8 minutes.

After that time, I check to see if the carrots are nearly done and whether the stew needs any more seasoning. If the carrots are softening nicely, I add chopped kale and some parsley then leave to cook (with the lid off if I want to reduce the sauce a little) for another 5 – 10 minutes, until the vegetables are done and the sausages are fully cooked through.

SERVING

I like Sausage, Vegetable & Lentil Stew with a baked potato. but you could try mashed potatoes, rice, pasta or, for a lower carb accompaniment and to up the veg even more, serve it with some cauliflower-broccoli ‘rice’. If you want something crunchy on the side then a red or white cabbage salad with vinaigrette makes a nice contrast.

Although this is a very homely dish, you can make it extra special by adding 2-3 tablespoons of double cream for the last few minutes of cooking. Let it bubble and reduce to coat the sausages and vegetables.

I love the inclusion of the classic ‘holy trinity’ of vegetables – celery, onion and carrot – along with leeks and kale. But there’s no reason you can’t mix it up and add other vegetables. Try sauteed mushrooms and peppers. Or swap the kale for spinach, chard or savoy cabbage. You could also use a tin of chopped tomatoes instead of stock. Or go in a spicy direction with some chillies and cumin.

In fact, with quality sausages as the basis of the dish, there really are endless possibilities once you start introducing different vegetables, pulses and flavourings.