SAUSAGE LENTIL STUFFED CONCHIGLIE

We went to our best friends 40th birthday party last night and the food was some of the best I have ever tasted. They hired the lovely Sabrina Ghayour to do the cooking and she produced an absolute feast from her bestselling cookbook Persiana - it was beyond impressive. Unfortunately I was in a pretty tight dress otherwise I could have spent the entire night just eating and eating and eating….

I wish I could have taken Sabrina home with us today to cook for us forever….however instead it was up to me to provide lunch and Pascal and Arabella had requested pasta (no surprise there)!

Ingredients for 4 people:

300g of giant pasta shells (conchiglie)
Olive oil
8 herby sausages
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 tsp fennel seeds
4 tbsp puy lentils
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
300ml chicken stock (I just used beef as that is all I had)
1/2 tub of ricotta cheese
80g Parmesan cheese, grated 

The recipe tells you to fry the sausages however I decided to be a little healthier and grilled them for 10 minutes, turning them halfway through cooking time.

Whilst the sausages are grilling, cook the shells according to their package instructions until they are al dente and then rinse them under cold water to stop them cooking.

Back to the sausages, after 10 minutes (they were almost cooked but not quite), cut them/break them into small chunks and add them to a large frying pan with some olive oil. Try not to spray yourself with oil like I clumsily did!

Add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.

Next add the fennel seeds and fry for another minute.

Pour in the lentils.

Then the tomatoes and tomato puree.

Finally add the stock and simmer for 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Give it a stir every so often so it doesnt stick and I also broke the sausages a little more so the meat became more mince like. At this point, start preheating the oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas mark 4.

In a shallow oiled baking dish, pour in the shells.

Cover and fill with the sauce.

Dollop over small blobs of ricotta.

Scatter over the Parmesan (obviously I also added extra grated cheddar cheese but this is optional).

Cook for 25-30 minutes until the tops are golden.

Then tuck in!

Pascal and I absolutely adored this - it is like a twist on bolognese. Arabella wasnt so keen - I dont know why, maybe the sausages were too herby or she was just p*ssed off it wasnt her favourite carbonara!! I am becoming a huge fan of lentils and they tasted great, the only thing I would change if I did this again would be to add mushrooms (much to Arabellas disgust) and it would go brilliantly with a green salad. It was really good and very easy and took just over an hour in total to make. You could also prepare it all before if you were having a dinner party or such. 

It wasnt Sabrina Ghayours high standard but I was still proud of the delicious dish!

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SAUSAGE ROSTIS WITH CARAMELISED ONION GRAVY

Sausage and mash has always been a favourite of mine however I am not the hugest fan of mash unless it is mixed with cheese or mustard or truffles. However it is a classic dish that I will always order if I go to a pub for lunch. I was overjoyed when I found this recipe in my Olive magazine - I love a potato rosti - we used to have them at home as children from a German frozen food delivery company and I would want them with every meal. This recipe took around an hour.

Ingredients for 4 people:

Sunflower oil
8 sausages
4 large King Edward potatoes
3 sprigs of thyme, leaves stripped
2 tbsp grainy mustard
2 tsp English mustard powder
1 egg, beaten

Gravy
2 onions, thinly sliced
25g butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp plain flour
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Heat the oven to 180 C / fan 160 C / gas 4.

Brush 1 tbsp of oil over a shallow roasting tin, about A4 size, or a round ovenproof pan, about 20-22cm across. I was only doing the recipe for two of us and the dish I used was far too big - it didnt really matter to be honest - and just meant that my potato rosti was very thin!

Brown the sausages in 1 teaspoon of oil for 5 minutes or until golden.

Grate the potatoes, no need to peel them. I have never grated potatoes before and it was easier than I thought. Put them in a clean tea towel and squeeze out as much water as you can - the amount of water that came out really surprised me!

Add the potato to a bowl and mix in the thyme, 1 tablespoon of grainy mustard, 2 teaspoon of English mustard powder, the beaten egg, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper.

Tip into the roasting tin, brush a little oil over the potatoes and then add the sausages on top. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until the sausages and potato are crisp, golden and cooked through.

After about 15 minutes it is time to make the gravy. Put the onions and butter in a frying pan and cook gently until really soft and starting to caramelise - about 25 minutes.

Stir in the sugar and brown over a higher heat for a couple of minutes. 

Then stir in the flour, mixing it until it has completely blended in.

Gradually stir in the stock, followed by the remaining tablespoon of grainy mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a simmer and then reduce until it has a good consistency and season to taste.

Finally serve the potato rosti and sausages with plenty of delicious onion gravy.

Yum - this was really good - I loved the crispy potatoes and they tasted incredible with the sausages and lashings of onion gravy. Next time I would probably add some peas too. Arabella wasnt mad on the onion gravy but she adored the sausages and rosti so it was both adult and kid friendly - another success. It took a while to cook but it was definitely worth  the effort!

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ITALIAN SAUSAGE ROLL PASTA BAKE

I am sure I have mentioned before that I have a weird obsession with keeping the freezer as empty and tidy as possible - not sure where that comes from?! I also have a tendency to tidy the fridge as well!!
Anyway I have had some leftover lasagne sheets in the freezer from when I made my vegetarian lasagne and I was desperate to use them up. After doing a "2" day (only 500 calories) yesterday I knew I would want something filling so this Fay Ripley meal seemed the perfect recipe.

I only cooked this recipe for the three of us and it took roughly 15 minutes to prepare and 1 hour to cook.

Ingredients for 6 people:

2 tbsp of olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
250g portobello mushrooms, finely chopped
30g bunch of fresh sage, leaves finely chopped (keep back a handful)
450g good quality sausage meat 
200g tomato puree
150ml dry white wine
250g fresh lasagne sheets
600ml tomato passata
200ml half fat creme fraiche

Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas mark 4.

In a non stick frying pan, add a splash of olive oil and cook the onion for 5-10 minutes to soften.

Add the chopped mushrooms and fry for another 5 minutes.

Then add the chopped sage for another minute. I chopped the sage in a mug with scissors - super easy.

Now add the sausage meat.

With a wooden spoon, break it into mince as it browns.

Keep turning it over until it is cooked right through - this took about 5-10 minutes. Next add the tomato puree and stir again for another minute or two.

Finally add the white wine and let it bubble for a further 5 minutes and season.

Using scissors, cut each lasagne sheets in half to make rectangles. Lay them all out and divide the filling evenly between the sheets.

Roll each pasta sheet around the filling to make short stubby cannelloni rolls and arrange them in an ovenproof dish in a single layer (around 22 x 26cm). This was easier said than done and mine looked a right old mess! My lasagne sheets cracked all over and would not stay in position!

Mix the passata and creme fraiche together in a bowl and season, then pour over the pasta.

Toss the remaining sage leaves in some olive oil and scatter over the top. Then bake in the oven for 40 minutes.

Serve and enjoy.

This was lovely - I was expecting it to taste exactly like lasagne but it has a different flavour - more tomatoey. We all really liked it however decided it was lacking in one very important ingredient…..cheese!!! When I do this next time I will definitely be adding some mozzarella and cheddar on top or some cheesy garlic bread on the side would be a good alternative. The sage was wonderful - definitely buy fresh leaves. This is one of those recipes that you can prepare the day before (just cook for an extra 10-15 minutes) and would taste delicious as leftovers…..unfortunately there were none in our house - we polished the whole lot off!

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