This is a wonderful one-pot supper. Italian sausages are fatty and delicious - and they lend themselves to slow cooking. The beauty of this dish is that everything is cooked together and the ingredients all take on each other’s flavours.
(Feeds 4)
4 fennel sausages
1 leek, outer skin taken off, split down the middle and sliced into 1 cm
5 shallots, peeled and sliced, not too thinly into half moons
2 carrots, peeled, sliced down the middle and cut into 1 cm chunks
1 chilli, split in half and deseeded
6 cloves of garlic, peel and left whole
1 tsp salt and fresh black pepper
1 cup olive oil
1 glass of red wine
1 cup of lentils (I love a puy lentil) but any will be great
½ tin of tomatoes
2 bay leaves
2 pints of chicken stock, a stock cube is fine
1 handful of watercress
1 tbsp. of Dijon mustard
season with salt and black pepper
Preheat the oven to 180
Firstly, heat the olive oil gently, in a heavy pan or frying pan something that can go straight in the oven.
Brown the sausages carefully all over, just enough that they have a nice colour all over. Then pop the sausages to the side.
In the pan add the shallots, leeks, carrots, bay leaves and garlic. They will need to be stirred and watched. A lid on a for a few moments can help bring them together with their juices. Cook for 10 mins
Once the vegetables are softened and all getting to know each other, add the lentils, chilli and wine. Then let this reduce for a few moments and then the then add the tomatoes. Bring up to a good simmer. Once all looking lovely add the stock to cover the lentils, cook for a further 10 to 15 mins.
Season with salt and pepper.
Finely pop the browned sausages into the pot and bake in the oven, turn the temp down to 150 and bake for 45 mins.
Once out of the oven, stir a tbsp. of mustard and a handful of watercress into the pot. Check for seasoning.
Enjoy!
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