Vegetarian Sausage, Orange & Root Veg One Pot

Ingredients:

6 vegetarian sausages (I used Linda McCartney's)

2 oranges

1 red onion, chopped into chunks

1/2 a swede, peeled & chopped

1 small turnip, peeled & chopped

1 sweet potato, peeled & chopped

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp dried thyme

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Place the sausages and chopped root vegetables into an oven proof dish.
3. Sprinkle the thyme and grind some black pepper over the sausages and vegetables.
4. Halve and squeeze the juice of the oranges into a jug. Add the remains of the oranges to the dish with the sausages and vegetables.
5. Add the olive oil and maple syrup to the orange juice, mix well.
6. Pour the orange juice mix over the ingredients in the oven proof dish and stir well, so that all the ingredients are coated.
7. Place in the oven for 45-50 mins, turn over in the middle of the cooking and remove from the oven when golden brown.

Serve with mashed or boiled potatoes.

NB Could probably be also made with meat sausages.

Slow Cooked Sausage & Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

15 sausages

3 onions, chopped finely

4 carrots, sliced

1 tbsp sage

1 tbsp mixed herbs

1 tin of black eyed beans

1 tin of kidney beans

1 tin of sweetcorn (or frozen)

2 tins of chopped tomatoes

1 vegetable OXO cube

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp cornflour mixed in a little cold water

200ml boiling water

Method:

1. Place the sausages in the bottom of the slow cooker.
2. Add the chopped onions, carrots, herbs and mix well.
3. Next add the tins of beans, sweetcorn and tomatoes again mixing well.
4. Next sprinkle the OXO cube on top, add the tomato puree and cornflour, before lastly the boiling water and mix very well together.
5. Place the slow cooker on high for 1 hour, then low for 5-6 hours.

Serve with rice, pasta or mashed potatoes

NB This recipe serves about 12 people, but I always cook large quantities and then freeze for another day.

Aircraft Pizzas

I've been trying to spend more special time with my toddler since the arrival of his little brother and a great way to do this has been to spend some time cooking and baking together. We decided to make and decorate pizzas, but he is helicopter mad, so they had to be helicopter & aeroplane ones.

This is our efforts...

Aeroplane Pizza with BBQ sauce

Helicopter Pizza - see the hot dog main rotors and the pepper & olive tail rotor

Another photo of the helicopter pizza

...he was so proud of his achievement in making his own tea with mummy.

Honey and Orange, Sausage and Root Veg Roast

Ingredients:

1 large onion, sliced

a selection of root veg, ie swede, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, turnips etc

8 sausages

2 tbsps honey

an orange, zest and juice

olive oil

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 190C or Gas Mark 6.
2. Peel and chop the root veg into inch squared chunks.
3. Mix chopped vegetables and onion into olive oil.
4. Place in roasting tin with the sausages and roast for 10-15 mins.
5. Mix together the honey, orange zest and juice.
6. Turn over the vegetables and sausages in the roasting tin and drizzle over the honey and orange mix.
7. Return to the oven for another 20-30 minutes until the veg is soft and sausages are cooked through.

Serve with some delicious creamy mashed potato as a Sunday roast alternative.

Sausage & bean casserole

Ingredients:10 pork sausages

olive oil

1 onion, chopped finely

a handful of chopped fresh parsley 

1 carrot, chopped

half a swede

1 parsnip, chopped

1 tin of beans

1 tbsp tomato purée

1 tsp mustard 

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

300ml veg stock

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 190C.
2. Place sausages in the casserole dish and put in the oven to cook.
3. Heat the oil in a pan & add the onion & half the parsley for a minute.
4. Add the chopped vegetables (carrots, swede, parsnip) & fry for 4-5 minutes.
5. Add the veg stock, beans, tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce & mustard along with the remaining parsley, allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Once sausages are cooked, add the simmering ingredients from the pan on top of the sausages & place back in the oven for 30 mins.

Serve with mashed or jacket potatoes and some fresh green beans or broccoli.

Easy Homemade Sausage Rolls

Ingredients:

250g readymade shop bought puff pastry (OR make your own using the recipe - Easy Puff Pastry)

8 sausages

thyme

ground pepper

1 egg, beaten

Method:

1. Preheat oven to Gas 6/200C.
2. Roll out the pastry onto a lightly floured surface, ideally into a rectangle, about <0.5cm thick & the width of 2 sausages end to end. Cut the pastry into 2 long strips the width of each sausage.
3. Brush the beaten egg onto the pastry and sprinkle some of the thyme & ground black pepper over it.
4. Place a sausage to the edge of the pastry and roll, cutting the pastry when you have approximately 1cm overlap of pastry around the sausage.
5. Place the rolled sausage on a baking tray and make some slits with a knife in the top.
6. Brush with beaten egg.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 until you have used all the pastry or sausages (I found this was the perfect ratio of sausages to pastry but it depends on how thinly/thickly you roll your pastry and how fat your sausages are!).
8. Place in the oven for 25-30 mins or until golden brown.

Great to take on a packed lunch or for a buffet or summer picnic.

Sausage Tomato Pasta

Ingredients: 

6 sausages

1 pepper, sliced

300g pasta

oil

1 red onion, sliced

1 can of tinned tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp dried chilli

150g fresh spinach

Method:

1. Boil pasta in a pan of boiling water for ~10-12 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, chop the sausages into small balls.
3. Heat oil in a wok and add the sausages for 3-4 minutes until browned.
4. Add the onion and continue cooking for a few minutes, until the onions are soft and sausages cooked through.
5. Add the pepper, tin of tomatoes, tomato puree, rosemary and chilli and heat until simmering.
6. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes and then add the spinach in until it reduces.
7. Stir the pasta into the sauce and serve.

Optional top with cheese to serve!!

Spinach & Potato Bake

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

400g small potatoes, cubed

half a medium swede, cubed

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, chopped finely

150g spinach

1 vegetable stock cube

150g grated cheese

Sausages (Optional)

Method:

1. Chop all the vegetables.
2. Preheat oven to Gas 5 or 190C.
3. Add the swede and potatoes to a pan of boiling water and simmer for 15 mins.
4. Add 200ml of boiling water to another small pan with the stock cube, onion and garlic, also simmer for 15 mins.
5. In the microwave but the spinach onto a plate and cook for 1 minute at full power, so that it wilts.
6. Drain potatoes and swede and place back into the pan with the spinach, half the cheese and the stock mix and mix well.
7. Place into an ovenproof dish and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
8. Bake in the oven for 30-40 mins or until the cheese is golden.

OPTIONAL: Serve with sausages for those who enjoy meat in their meal!

Cheesy pasta with spinach & sausages

Today's recipe is one of my all time favourites, my mum used to make it lots of us when we were children and so when I went to university I took this recipe with me!

Cheesy pasta with spinach & sausages

Ingredients:
25g Butter
25g Plain Flour
600ml Milk
150g Grated cheese
300g Spinach, chopped
250g Pasta
8 Sausages
100g breadcrumbs



Method:

1. Grill sausages (as per pack instructions) for approximately 20 minutes, turning occasionally.
2. Boil the pasta (as per pack instructions) for approximately 10 minutes.
3. Melt the butter on a low heat.
4. Once melted take off the heat temporarily and add the flour, mix together well to form a thick dough (see photos below).
5. Add a little milk and whisk well to form a paste.
6. Place pan back on to a medium-low heat. Constantly whisking whilst slowly adding three quarters of the milk.
7. Once slowly simmering the sauce should start thickening (after about 10 minutes), add about half of the grated cheese and stir together, if the sauce becomes too thick add more milk, a little at a time.
8. Cook spinach by placing in the microwave for a minute.
9. Drain off as much liquid as possible and add to cheese sauce.
10. Mix the cooked pasta into the cheese sauce.
11. Mix the left-over grated cheese with the breadcrumbs.
12. Place the pasta and sauce into a Pyrex bowl, and top with the cheese/breadcrumb mix.
13. Place in the oven or under the grill for a few minutes until the topping has browned.
14. Serve with the cooked sausages (if vegetarian leave sausages out).

4) Mix melted butter with the flour

5 & 6) Add the milk and whisk well whilst gently heating

The finished product!