Recipe: Warming Sausage Cassoulet

November 6, 2017December 7, 2017
by Jacqueline Whitehart

There’s something about the dark nights of November that makes me want to make warming winter stews and this sausage cassoulet fits the bill perfectly.

We need filling up with good healthy nutritious food. If we don’t eat more filling dinners at this time of year then we are in more danger of snacking and eating empty calories. How many of us have thought ‘just one piece of cake’ at 9pm during the last week. I know I have!

I made this simple cassoulet for a bonfire party last night. It was a huge success. It warmed cold hands and empty stomachs nicely.

What I love about this cassoulet, is that the sausages add buckets of flavour, but the lentils make it really filling and delicious. Lentils are a perfect balance of protein and carbs.

You can serve this on a diet day with some green veggies or add a few potatoes if you feel you need them.

You can freeze this cassoulet in individual portions if you want a warming ‘ready meal’ on a hurried week night.

Sausage Cassoulet

413 calories

Serves 4 • Ready in 1 hour

1 tsp olive oil (27 cals)
4 sausages (662 cals)
1 onion, finely chopped (65 cals)
2 cloves garlic, chopped (6 cals)
1 carrot, diced (35 cals)
1 red (bell) pepper, diced (54 cals)
1 green (bell) pepper, diced (26 cals)
200g (1 cup) red lentils (678 cals)
1 litre (4 cups) water
1 chicken stock cube (35 cals)
1 bay leaf
1 x 400g (14oz) can chopped tomatoes (64 cals)

• In a heavy based lidded saucepan, heat the oil at a medium temperature and fry the sausages until they are tinged with brown. Remove the sausages from the pan and set aside.
• Turn the heat to low and add the onion, garlic, carrot and peppers. Stir and leave to saute gently for 5 minutes.
• Next, add in the lentils and mix into the vegetables. Then pour in the water, turn the heat to high and bring to the boil. Crumble the stock cube into the pan and add the bay leaf too. When the lentils start to boil, turn the heat to medium (bubbling vigorously) and cook for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes turn the heat to low, add the tomatoes and stir. Then put the sausages into the top of the pan and put the lid on. Cook on the lowest heat possible for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Alternatively, transfer the pan to the oven and cook at 180C/160C Fan/360F for 45 minutes to 1 hour.