Sausage and Bean Casserole

This winter has been particularly cold and miserable in Beijing, and I've had to come up with ideas to cheer up our family meals. One recipe that never fails is Sausage and Bean Casserole, from The Good Housekeeping Recipe book. I've had this book for almost 20 years, and this was one of the first English recipes I learnt. It's a classic.

In Beijing I buy home-made sausages from Drew, bjsozzies at gmail.com

1 small onion
1 carrot
1 tbsp oil
500g pork and herb sausages
1 tin chick peas (400g)
1 tin red kidney beans (400g)
1 tin tomatoes (chopped)
1 tbs flour or cornflour
350ml stock
1 tsp tabasco sauce
2 tbsp tomato puree
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp chopped parsley

Slice the onions and chop the carrot. Heat the oil in a casserole (pan). I like to cut the sausages before cooking them, it is less messy. Fry them for 5 minutes until nice and brown. Since the sausages have some fat in them, I don't need to use much oil. Remove from the casserole. Lower the heat and add the onions, then the carrots. Cook until soft. Return the sausages to the pan. Drain and rinse the chick peas, kidney beans and add to the casserole with the tin tomatoes. Stir well. Blend the cornflour with a little of the stock , then add to the casserole with the remainder of the stock, Tabasco sauce, tomato puree and seasoning. Stir.

Bring to the boil, cover and cook on a medium fire for about 1 hour or longer, to increase the depth of flavour (it tastes even better the following day). Sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Serve in a bowl and accompany with home-made, rustic bread or serve on a plate with mashed potatoes. Sit in front of the telly and watch 'Modern Family' followed by a nice cuppa and a biscuit. Ahhh ... Bliss!