Warming Lentil and Sausage Casserole

After a week of sunshine and sea swimming I am back in the north and the temperature has definitely dropped. It’s that time of year when it is cold in the morning so you put lots of clothes on but by lunchtime you are too hot! As dusk sets in the temperature plummets again and I feel the need for food that warms my bones! This recipe is another quick one it takes me half an hour from start to finish.

Slice some onions and fry in a little oil until they begin to go brown. Add two or three chopped cloves of garlic and a heaped teaspoon of crushed ginger cook with the onion for a couple of minutes more. I try to winkle some fresh ginger into lots of my food as it is packed with amazing healing properties. For example did you know it can work as an anti-inflammatory, it can lower blood sugars and help reduce the risk of heart disease and cholesterol, it is good for your brain and can help boost your immune system as well as fight infection. You see what I mean well worth using as much as possible.

Rinse 8oz of red lentils in a sieve (you could use yellow, brown or green ones but they would take much longer to cook) and add to the onions stirring well after a couple of minutes add a tin of chopped tomatoes and bring back to a simmer. Fill your empty tomatoes tin with water twice and add to the pan. As the cooking continues keep an eye on the water level as the lentils will soak it up quickly. Add more water as required.

Add a heaped teaspoon of smoked paprika, some child flakes, celery seeds (you can miss out the celery seeds if you don’t have them…fennel or cumin seeds would also work well) salt and pepper. Add a stock cube of your choice stir well and leave to simmer until the lentils begin to soften. Add any spare veg you have around and want to use up, I used some mushrooms but peppers or spinach would work along with many other things.While the lentils are cooking grill six to eight gluten free sausages to give them some colour, they don’t need to be cooked right through as they will continue cooking in the lentils.

Cut the browned sausages into bite size chunks and add to the pan stirring well. Continue to cook through until the lentils are very soft and the sausages are properly cooked. For a vegetarian option you could roast cubes of butternut squash and add them instead of sausages.

This casserole works well with rice, couscous, a jacket potato or even on its own. This should be enough for four people any left overs would be great cold for lunch with a piece of toast the next day.