Culinary Advisor
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Sausage Casserole with Beans
Created by Chef Thomas
Pork sausages braised slowly in a smoky tomato sauce with butter beans and a good shake of Worcestershire, the sort of supper that makes a cold Tuesday feel like it was always the plan.
The clocks have gone back. It's dark by half four and the house feels like it needs warming from the inside. This is the evening for a sausage casserole.
There's nothing clever about this. Sausages browned in a heavy pan until they're sticky and golden, then buried in a sauce of tinned tomatoes, onions gone soft and sweet, a shake of smoked paprika, and a good splash of Worcestershire that does something quiet and essential to the whole thing. Butter beans go in near the end. They soak up the sauce and turn creamy and yielding, the kind of texture that makes you go back for a second spoonful before you've finished the first.
I make this more often than almost anything else between October and March. It costs next to nothing. It takes less than an hour, most of it unattended. Children eat it without negotiation. I wrote it down in the notebook years ago, just: "sausages, beans, Worcestershire, Tuesday." That was enough. The recipe hasn't changed because it doesn't need to.
We're only making dinner. But there are few better feelings than putting a warm plate of this in front of someone when it's cold outside and the kitchen smells like it's been paying attention all evening.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary AdvisorIngredients
pork sausages
Quantity
8
olive oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
onion
Quantity
1 large
halved and sliced
garlic
Quantity
2 cloves
sliced
tomato purée
Quantity
1 tablespoon
chopped tomatoes
Quantity
1 x 400g tin
chicken stock
Quantity
200ml
Worcestershire sauce
Quantity
1 tablespoon
smoked paprika
Quantity
1 teaspoon
bay leaves
Quantity
2
butter beans
Quantity
1 x 400g tin
drained and rinsed
fine sea salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Quantity
small handful
roughly chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| pork sausages | 8 |
| olive oil | 1 tablespoon |
| onionhalved and sliced | 1 large |
| garlicsliced | 2 cloves |
| tomato purée | 1 tablespoon |
| chopped tomatoes | 1 x 400g tin |
| chicken stock | 200ml |
| Worcestershire sauce | 1 tablespoon |
| smoked paprika | 1 teaspoon |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| butter beansdrained and rinsed | 1 x 400g tin |
| fine sea salt | to taste |
| black pepper | to taste |
| flat-leaf parsley (optional)roughly chopped | small handful |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide, heavy-bottomed casserole dish or deep frying pan with a lid
- •Wooden spoon
Instructions
- 1
Brown the sausages
Get a wide, heavy pan or casserole dish over a medium heat with the olive oil. Lay the sausages in and let them colour properly. You're not cooking them through, just building a crust: deep golden on two or three sides, sticky in places, the kitchen starting to smell like something worth sitting down for. Five or six minutes, turning them now and then. Take them out and set them aside on a plate.
Buy the best sausages you can. A good butcher's sausage with a high meat content will hold together in the sauce and taste of pork, not filler. This is a simple dish. The sausage is carrying it. - 2
Soften the onions
Turn the heat down a little. There will be rendered fat and caramelised bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Good. That's flavour. Add the sliced onion with a pinch of salt and stir it through. Let it cook gently for eight to ten minutes, stirring occasionally, scraping up those sticky bits as you go. The onion should turn soft and translucent, sweet rather than sharp. Add the garlic for the last minute or so, just until it smells warm and fragrant.
- 3
Build the sauce
Stir in the tomato purée and the smoked paprika. Let them cook into the onions for a minute, until the purée darkens slightly and the pan smells deeper, almost smoky. Pour in the tinned tomatoes and the stock. Add the Worcestershire sauce and the bay leaves. Give it a good stir. The sauce should be loose and brothy at this stage. It will thicken as it cooks.
A tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce is right, but taste it once the sauce has simmered. You might want another splash. It adds a savoury depth that tinned tomatoes sometimes need. - 4
Braise the sausages
Nestle the browned sausages back into the sauce. They should be half-submerged, not swimming. Bring everything to a gentle simmer, then turn the heat low, put a lid on slightly ajar, and let it bubble quietly for twenty minutes. The sausages will finish cooking through and the sauce will start to reduce and concentrate. The kitchen will smell like the kind of evening where nobody minds that it got dark early.
- 5
Add the beans and finish
Tip in the drained butter beans and stir them through gently. You don't want to crush them. Put the lid back on and give it another ten minutes, enough time for the beans to warm through and absorb some of the sauce. Fish out the bay leaves. Taste the sauce and season properly: salt, pepper, perhaps another shake of Worcestershire. The sauce should be rich and clinging, not watery. If it's too thin, take the lid off and let it reduce for a few more minutes. Scatter the parsley over the top if you have it. Serve straight from the pan.
Chef Tips
- •The sausages matter more than anything else here. Find a butcher who makes their own, or at least buy ones with a high pork content and a proper casing that crisps when you brown them. A cheap sausage will split and turn mealy in the sauce. A good one holds its shape and tastes like it's been raised right.
- •Butter beans are my first choice because they're creamy and substantial, but cannellini beans work well too. Haricot beans are fine if that's what you have. The point is a white bean that absorbs the sauce and gives you something to press against the roof of your mouth.
- •This reheats better than it has any right to. The sauce thickens overnight, the flavours settle, and the beans soak up even more. Make a double batch on Sunday and you've solved Monday's dinner before it arrives.
- •Serve it with crusty bread to mop up the sauce, or with a pile of buttery mash if you want something more substantial. A green salad on the side if your conscience asks for it. Your kitchen, your rules.
Advance Preparation
- •The whole casserole can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Reheat gently on the hob, adding a splash of water or stock if the sauce has thickened too much overnight.
- •Freezes well for up to three months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat thoroughly. The beans may soften a little further, but this is not a bad thing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 310g)
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