Sausage and Bean Casserole
This Smoky Sausage and Bean Casserole is absolutely packed with flavour. It's perfect for batch cooking, easy to make and beyond delicious to eat!!
Servings: 6
Cost: $3 / £4
Equipment
- Large Pot or Dutch Oven with Lid
- Jug (for stock)
- Wooden Spoon
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
Ingredients
- 12 Pork Sausages (see notes)
- 8 Mini Cooking Chorizo (see notes)
- 2x 14oz/400g cans of Peeled Plum Tomatoes, diced in can with a knife (or chopped tomatoes)
- 2x 14oz/400g cans of Pinto Beans, drained
- 1 cup / 250ml Beef Stock, combined with 1 tsp cornstarch/cornflour
- 1/2 cup / 125ml Red Wine
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 heaped tbsp Tomato Puree (Tomate Paste in US)
- 2 Red Peppers, roughly diced
- 2 cloves of Garlic, finely diced
- 1 large Onion, roughly diced
- 1 tbsp BBQ Sauce
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 sprig of Rosemary
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
- Olive Oil, as needed
Instructions
- Add a splash of olive oil to a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 12 pork sausages, fry until they begin to brown, then add in 8 mini chorizo. Keep frying until fully browned, then remove. They don't need to be fully cooked through at this point, just nicely browned.
- Add 1 large onion, 2 red peppers and 2 cloves of garlic to the leftover fat and fry until they soften and caramelize. Reduce heat down to medium, stir in 2 heaped tbsp tomato puree, then deglaze with 1/2cup/125ml red wine. Allow to reduce for a few mins, then stir in 1cup/250ml beef stock (+cornstarch/cornflour).
- Add 2 cans of plum tomatoes (chopped), 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tbsp bbq sauce, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 2 bay leaves, 1 sprig rosemary and seasoning to taste. Give a stir then add your sausages back in. Give it one big final stir, reduce heat to low and pop on the lid. Allow the casserole to simmer with the lid on for 1 hour 30mins. This is important for the flavours to develop.
- After 90mins, take the lid off and stir in 2 cans of beans. Allow to simmer with the lid off for another 10mins or until it's nicely thickened, stirring occasionally. Pluck out the bay leaves/rosemary stalk and serve with mash or chunky buttered bread!
Video
Notes
a) Sausages - I usually go for good quality Cumberland sausages. I recommend using a 'neutral' flavoured sausage, i.e not packed with different herbs etc otherwise it'll throw off the flavour. Also, as the sausage are the star of the show, don't skimp out of cheap ones!
b) Chorizo - You'll find the mini chorizo sausages in the UK in Morrisons and Waitrose, and possibly other supermarkets too. Can't comment on the USA. In both cases though if you can't find them feel free to use regular chorizo (9oz/250g worth) and dice into large chunks.
c) Beans - I always used butterbeans and cannellini in the past and both work great if you don't have pinto beans.
d) Timing - Really important to simmer for a long time to develop the flavours, don't be tempted to stop it early. It'll be worth the wait :)
e) Serving - 9/10 times I make this I'll serve it with Mustard Mash. If I'm feeling lazy though I'll just buy a cheap chunky loaf of bread. Rice also works great.
f) Make ahead - if you want to make this ahead of time, make as stated, simmer for 90mins then cool, cover and pop in the fridge. 15mins before serving take it out, add in the beans and pop on the hob again over medium heat, using water to thin out as needed.
g) Calories - based on using 1 tsp olive oil and sharing between 6 with no sides.
Nutrition
Calories: 851kcal | Carbohydrates: 34.89g | Protein: 38.83g | Fat: 60.4g | Saturated Fat: 21.594g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7.383g | Monounsaturated Fat: 27.857g | Cholesterol: 139mg | Sodium: 2077mg | Potassium: 1296mg | Fiber: 7.6g | Sugar: 8.34g | Vitamin A: 566IU | Vitamin C: 35.7mg | Calcium: 142mg | Iron: 5.71mg