Sausage, Pumpkin and Chilli Casserole

Sausage, Pumpkin and Chilli Casserole

Preparation Time: Less than 30 mins

Cooking Time 1-2 hours

Serves 2 

Ingredients

• 50g/1¾oz butter
• 6 good-quality sausages, pricked several times with a fork
• 1 onion, peeled, thinly sliced
• 3 shallots, peeled, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled, finely chopped
• about 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 small pumpkin, peeled, seeds removed, cut into equal-sized pieces
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 200g/7oz canned chopped tomatoes
• 400g/14oz canned cannellini (or borlotti) beans, drained, rinsed
• 500ml/18fl oz chicken stock
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, to serve

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 180⁰C/350F/Gas 4
2. Heat half the butter in a large casserole over a medium heat and fry the sausages for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown all over.
3. Add the remaining butter, the onions and shallots and fry for 3 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and chilli powder and cook for a further 3 minutes stirring well.
4. Add the pumpkin and stir the mixture well until combined. Increase the heat to high and add the white wine vinegar. Continue to cook until most of the mixture has evaporated.
5. Add the tomatoes, cannellini beans and stock and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
6. Bring the mixture to the boil, then transfer the casserole to the oven for an hour, or until the sausages are cooked through and the pumpkin is tender.
7. To serve, ladle the casserole into two large bowls and sprinkle with the flat leaf parsley.

Enjoy!

In season this month

Fruits, Nuts & Fungi
Apples, blackberries, chestnuts, elderberries, figs, grapes, pears, quince, tomatoes, walnuts. Lots of lovely mushrooms; chanterelles, chestnuts, horse mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, parasol mushrooms, puffballs, giant shaggy ink caps and summer truffles

Vegetables & Herbs
Beetroot, borlotti beans, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, chard, courgettes, fennel, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, onions, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins & squash, rocket, salsify, scorzonera, spinach, turnips

Meat & Game
Duck, wild goose, grouse, guinea fowl, hare, mallard, partridge, pheasant, rabbit, venison, wood pigeon

Fish & Shellfish
Cod, crab, eels, lobster, mackerel, mussels, oysters, prawns, scallops, sea bass, sprats, squid, brown and rainbow trout

Going out of season
Aubergine, beetroot, butternut squash, chicory, cobnut, damsons, elderberries, fennel, fig, globe artichoke, lamb, mackerel, pear, plums, radish, raspberry, rocket, sweetcorn, watercress

Suzanne is a professional chef, wife and mother who has lived in East Dulwich all her life!

www.suzannejames.co.uk

This article first appeared in the October 2018 issue of SE22 magazine.