Food: Sizzler For The Kids

Sep 23 2007 Michael Kilkie

After talking last week at length about the benefits of one-pot dishes that are easy to cook and prepare, I thought I would let you have another of my favourites.

One of the first recipes I wrote for Right at Home was a similar dish to today's but more suited to an adult palate.

The sausages I used were one of my favourites - spicy Italian.

Today's recipe is far more family friendly because I've used a good old British banger - not quite as spicy but just as tasty.

I suppose it's not a million miles from a classic dish that many of us will have enjoyed as we grew up - braised sausages. They were a big hit in our house.

There are a huge variety of decent sausages on the market so it won't be difficult to find a good one, whether it be your local butcher's own variety or something from the speciality section in the supermarket. There are so many to choose from.

You could of course use something spicy like Italian sausages if you weren't feeding kids or if they liked spicy foods.

Remember to make sure the sausages have a decent skin and are sealed well at each end because you don't want them to burst during the cooking.

Avoid some of the sausages in the healthy eating section which have no skin because these just won't work - the meat will break up and fall apart.

Sealing the sausages in a hot pan first before braising or stewing is a good tip but not essential.

What you will get doing this is a slightly sticky crust on the sausages that will make them extra tasty.

Another thing that makes this a great recipe is that all you need to have lying around is some sort of tinned beans and tomatoes and you can make something different, rather that just bangers and mash. When I say beans, I mean something such as kidney or cannellini beans - NOT ordinary baked beans.

If push came to shove, I suppose you could use them but I've never tried it myself. Like last week's recipe, the beauty of this dish is that you can prepare it in advance, opening your tins and browning the sausages before putting it all in the casserole dish.

You can do this long before you want to eat it - and just pop it in the oven an hour before you are ready to sit down together.

For me, it's a meal in itself and needs little more to go with it - other than some crusty bread to mop up the juices.

Brilliant bangers 'n' beans stew

Heat the oil in a pan and seal all the sausages until golden. Remove and add to a casserole or baking dish. Fry the onions and garlic for about three minutes and add to the casserole. Pour the wine in to the frying pan and scrape the bottom of the pan, lifting all the tasty sticky bits, reduce by half and pour in to the casserole dish. Now add the rest of the ingredients, cover and cook in the oven at 180C (gas mark 4) for 40 to 50 minutes. Check now and again to make sure it hasn't dried too much. If it does, add a little more stock or water. Season to taste and serve.

SERVES 6

12 good quality sausages

1 onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic crushed

2 tins of beans such as kidney, borlotti or cannellini

1 tin chopped tomatoes

Small glass of white wine

Pinch of sugar

Vegetable stock 200ml approx, you may need more or less

Sprig rosemary

Sprig thyme

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp olive oil