Sausage Hotpot in Thirty Minutes

A pack of sausages is the starting point for a great winter supper that adults and children will enjoy.

Sausages are a staple meal for many families. Fry them, grill them or bake them, they are always appealing. But they can be rather dry, especially if just served with a baked potato or chips and a helping of peas… so why not make them into a hotpot?

This dish takes under 30 minutes to cook and with just a few minutes’ preparation time needed, it’s great for after-school when time is running short and the children are hungry. And while meats such as lamb, pork or beef can be expensive, a packet of good sausages can be bought for under £2.50 in many butcher’s shops or supermarkets. Another advantage to this dish is that it is pretty healthy, being crammed full of vegetables.

Sausage Hotpot Recipe

Ingredients for 4-5 people

• 1 x pack of 12 chipolatas or eight Cumberland sausages
• 2 x rashers of bacon, smoked or unsmoked as preferred
• 1x large onion
• 1 x clove of garlic
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
• 1 x large carrot
• 1 x cup of frozen peas
• Half a jar of passata or a tin of plum tomatoes
• 1 x courgette
• 1 x red pepper
• 1 teaspoon of tomato puree
• salt and pepper
• Serve with pasta, rice, couscous or noodles.

Cooking steps

1. Chop garlic and onion finely and fry in a dessert spoon of oil in a large pan over a fairly low heat, with the oregano.
2. Chop carrot into small cubes and add to pan.
3. Chop red pepper into small pieces and add to pan.
4. Chop sausages into small pieces and place in pan, leave to brown for a few minutes, turning regularly. Chop the bacon and add to the pan.
5. Stir the ingredients and add the oyster sauce.
6. Pour in the passata or tinned tomatoes and add water so there is a sufficient liquid. A glug of red wine won’t go amiss if you have some spare.
7. Add the tomato puree, salt and pepper.
8. Stir the mixture, turn gas down low, cover the pan with a lid and leave to cook for 20 minutes. About five minutes before the dish is cooked, grate a courgette into the pan and add the frozen peas, replace lid and cook for a further five minutes.

To serve

Either add cooked pasta penne to the pan and mix into the sausage dish for a one-stop dish, or ladle the sausage mixture over cooked pasta. This recipe also goes well with couscous or noodles.

Of course, you can vary the vegetables in the dish according to personal taste. Mushrooms work well in it, but a lot of children seem to dislike them, so it depends on your family’s tastes. Sweet potato chopped into small cubes cook quickly in the pan and make the meal feel more hearty on a winter’s night.