Hearty Sausage Casserole

I recently discovered The Recipe Shed on The Reluctant Housedad's blog.  Go and visit as it's a fab and well written blog .  Anyway, the recipe for this weeks linky is one using sausages.  This is one of my favourite casserole recipes that easily feeds 6 people.  Instead of the crumb topping you could use mash or a cobbler topping.  Give it a whirl!

1 Tblsp olive oil

8 (750g) thick pork sausages

4 bacon rashers, remove the rind and thinly slice them

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 large pepper (any colour) thinly sliced

1 large leek, washed and trimmed then cut in half and thinly sliced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 large courgettes, thickly sliced

125ml (1/2 cup) dry white wine

400g can diced tomatoes

250ml (1 cup) chicken stock

3 fresh thyme sprigs

400g can butter beans, drained and well rinsed

2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (grate frozen slices of bread to make breadcrumbs)

1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

50g butter, melted

Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan-forced. Heat the oil in a deep, 2.5 litre capacity, flameproof casserole dish over medium-high heat. Add the sausages and then cook them, turning occasionally to brown them all over, for 4 to 5 minutes. Take the sausages out of the hot pan and cut each one into 3 pieces.  

Add the bacon to the casserole dish on the heat and cook, stirring so that it doesn't stick for 3 to 4 minutes or until it's crisp.  Add the carrots, onion, pepper, leek and garlic to the pan and cook them for 3 to 4 minutes, keep stirring them about, until they're soft.  Add the courgette and cook it for a couple of minutes until it has lightly browned. Pour in the wine and bring the casserole to the boil.  At this point add the tomatoes, stock, thyme, beans and sausages.  Stir everything together until it's well mixed, put the lid on the caserole, and bring everything back to the boil.  Transfer the casserole to the oven and bake it for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the breadcrumbs, parsley and butter in a bowl.  Take the casserole out of the oven.  Remove the lid and sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the casserole.  Return to oven and cook it uncovered for another 20 minutes or until breadcrumbs are golden and crispy.  Serve with steamed greens.