Sausage and Lentil Casserole

This is a classic from university when 5 of us used to take it in turns to cook for each other on a weekly rota. This is a rich, intense stew, lovely little puy lentils cooked in a red wine and tomato sauce with sausages. The lentils can easily be substituted for other beans, cannelini, butter, flagelot etc.The beauty is, you use cheap as chips ingredients to bulk out the more expensive sausages. (Make sure you buy good quality sausages)

Make up lots of this as it will improve the next day as well as freezing well should there be any left over. Have it with mashed potato, crusty bread, pasta, rice, couscous. My friend Jen came up with this and used to cut up potatoes into little cubes and roast them with rosemary. Possibly the best bit...

Ingredients

Seves 4

8 sausages, about 450g, sliced
2 onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
A couple of sprigs of rosemary
a strip orange zest
½ glass red wine
450g puy lentils
2 cans chopped tomatoes

• Heat a little oil in a large heavy based saucepan, fry the sausages on a high heat until they begin to brown, they don't need to be cooked through, just begininning to colour and singed brown in places.
• Remove the sausages, and fry the onions in the same saucepan on a low heat until softened, add the garlic, rosemary and orange zest and fry for a few mins more.
• Pour in the wine, turn the heat up and allow it to bubble until half has evaporated off.
• Add the lentils and sausages back to the pan, stir thoroughly and add the tomatoes. bring to the boil and simmer gently for 20-30mins until the lentils are cooked through, top up with water or stock as necessary.

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