Phil Howard’s Sausage and pasta casserole
We’re thrilled to have this mouthwatering recipe from chef Phil Howard – co-owner of Michelin-starred Elystan Street in Chelsea and Kitchen W8 in Kensington and neighbourhood favourite – Church Road in Barnes. He’s also running a food to order delivery service of Thursday- to Saturday-night dinners, Sunday lunches and limited-edition mushroom and truffle hampers. (To order, visit here.
It means a lot to us to have Phil’s support for Share A Meal so we are sending him and his teams many thanks.
Sausage casserole – another slow cooker – is a perfect winter dish for meat eaters and Phil’s version is wonderfully flavoursome and rich; a real one-pot dish with lots of veggies. If there are any leftovers, it will reheat beautifully in a pan on the stove or in a microwave; or you could freeze it in individual portions.
Serves 6
Prep and cooking time: about 1½-2 hours
Ingredients
200g onions (roughly 2 medium-sized)
1 turnip
1 small savoy cabbage
2 tbsp duck fat
12 top-quality sausages
sea salt flakes and freshly cracked black pepper
250ml dry cider
25g butter
2 tsp plain flour
650ml chicken stock, homemade, cube or stock pot
3 Granny Smith apples
150g penne pasta
3 tsp grain mustard
1 tsp maple syrup
olive oil, to finish
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
2. Melt half the duck fat in a heavy-based pan. Add the sausages and gently fry until coloured on all sides. Retain the fat and transfer the sausages to an oven tray and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the sausages, drain, cool and slice into 1cm lengths.
3. While the sausages are cooking, peel and finely chop the onions. Peel the turnip and cut into roughly 1cm pieces.
4. Remove the outer leaves from the cabbage and discard. Keep the next six leaves, lightly trimming the main rib so the leaf cooks evenly (but keep the leaf intact). Chop the rest into roughly 2cm pieces.
5. Once the sausages are cooked, turn the oven down to 150C/130C fan/gas 2.
6. Using the same fat you’ve used for the sausages, add the onions, season and stir. Add the cider and simmer until the cider has completely reduced. Remove the onions and set on one side.
7. Add the other half of the fat to the pan and fry the turnip pieces until golden, draining at the end and reserving the fat.
8. Place a heavy-based, oven-proof casserole pan (or use the same pan if big enough) over the heat, and add the leftover fat and butter. Let it sizzle then add the chopped cabbage and a pinch of salt and fry gently for 3-4 minutes.
9. Add the flour, stirring to combine, then gradually add the chicken stock, stirring continuously. Once it’s boiling, stir in the onions, turnip and sausage pieces and return to a rolling boil. Take the pan off the heat, cover immediately and put into the oven for 30 minutes.
11. Meanwhile, peel, core and roughly chop the apples. Add them to the casserole (after the 30 minutes above) and return it to the oven for a further 15 minutes.
12. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water for 6 minutes. Drain the pasta and add to the casserole, stir well and cook on the stove top for a final 5 minutes.
13. This should now be a wonderful, rich hotpot. Stir in the grain mustard and maple syrup and let it rest for 10 minutes.
14. Meanwhile, place a large pan of salted water on to boil. Blanch the savoy cabbage leaves for 2 minutes until tender – drain and pat dry.
15. To serve, divide the cabbage leaves between 6 large, shallow bowls and spoon in the sausage hotpot. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil on each bowl.
Photograph: Andrew Hayes-Watkins