Cumberland Sausage & Leek Casserole

As with most casserole dishes, there is often a lot of preparation time up front, but once the oven is hot and the timer is set, there is plenty of time to do something else. The main labour with this one was the dicing of two carrots into small chunks, and likewise a medium sized leek. Cut lengthwise about four times, and then cut crosswise. Plus a cored and sliced apple, and some chopped leftover cherry tomatoes from an earlier dish.

Once the vegetables were in the casserole dish, I added about a third of a pint of water. Then I laid about 50g of butter, thinly sliced across the bed of vegetables. Then, a heaped teaspoonful of French coarse grain mustard in the centre of the bed. In addition, I sprinkled two large pinches of dried sage across the top, and added a little vegetable stock, and some black pepper.

Once the sausages were defrosted, they were separated and pricked, and laid across the top of the bed of vegetables.

Cook at about 190 deg C. for about 45 to 50 minutes (lidded), checking occasionally to judge progress. Turn the sausages if they are overbrowning on top.