Cook up a winter warmer with a Colin Fassnidge favourite dish: Sausage and White Bean Bake

Colin’s making a delicious dish he says he could eat every single night of the week. Perfect for the cooler weather, this sausage and bean bake is pure comfort food. With pancetta, sage, thyme and parmesan, this recipe is packed so full of winter flavours, you’ll stop dreaming about summer. And best of all, it takes less than 30 minutes to put together.

Sausage and White Bean Bake

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 chorizo (mild or spicy), chopped
• 100g pancetta, chopped (if not available use smoked streaky bacon)
• 6 beef or pork sausages (mild or spicy)
• 2 brown onions, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• ½ bunch sage, finely chopped
• ½ bunch thyme, finely chopped
• 300g white beans, soaked the day before
• 1 piece parmesan rind
• 1 ½ litres chicken stock
• 250g mixed cherry tomatoes
• Sea salt flakes and freshly ground pepper, to season
• 50g fresh breadcrumbs
• 50g grated parmesan
• Crisp fried sage leaves, to garnish

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C (fan-forced).
2. Heat a large flameproof baking dish over medium high heat. Add a splash of oil and the chorizo and pancetta. Cook, stirring regularly for 5 to 10 minutes, or until golden and flavour has released. Add the sausages. Cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove sausages to a plate.
3. Add onions, garlic, carrots and herbs. Cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Stir in beans, rind and add enough stock to cover. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, adding more stock as needed, or until beans are tender. Season to taste.
4. Return sausages to the dish with tomatoes. Scatter with breadcrumbs and parmesan. Cook in pre-heated oven for 10 minutes, or until sausages are cooked and breadcrumbs are golden.
5. Just before serving, grate over extra parmesan. Garnish with fried sage.

Tip: Dried white beans can be replaced by canned cannellini beans. Liquid quantity and cooking time will need to be adjusted.

Better Homes and Gardens is on Friday nights on Channel 7 or 7Two or you can catch up anytime on @7Plus