Sausage casserole with cheesy dumplings

 

Oh my word.  It's been a few days of cold rain and biting winds.  And, we have no potatoes ... so today - sausage casserole with cheesy dumplings!  Gorgeously comforting - but it gets some veg into the veg dodger too.

olive oil

red onion

garlic

Sausages

Carrots

Swede

Stock

Butter beans

Tin of tomatoes

SR flour

Butter

paprika

mixed herbs

baking powder

Cheese

Yogurt

1.  Chop red onion in slices, sautee in olive oil.

2.  Add sausages and brown on most sides (ie... keep moving them around to get a bit of colour, but don't get neurotic, there is plenty of time for them to cook.)

3.  Peel carrots and swede, chop into bit sized pieces and chuck into the pot.  Add crushed garlic.

4.  Add about a pint of stock and simmer for a few minutes.

5.  Add butter beans, a tin of tomatoes and some water, keep simmering.

6.  Let it simmer for an hour - add more water/stock if it's getting dry.

7.  Make the dumplings.  Rub butter into flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, sprinkle on a teaspoon of baking powder to help the dumplings lift.  Season and add mixed herbs and a good pinch of paprika.

8.    When the casserole is 20 minutes from finished shape the dumplings by adding the grated cheese and a spoonful of yogurt - flour your hands and roll the mix into balls and drop onto the top of the casserole.

9.  Simmer for 20 more minutes.

10.  Serve, scoff

Stew and dumplings - vegan stylee

Rain, rain, rain, rain … and cold - and injuries, so we are almost housebound at the mo.  Today demanded serious comfort food - so, vegan butter bean autumnal casserole with DUMPLINGS!!! yay.. and gluten free dumplings at that.  This was a triumph - served with red cabbage braised in apple juice (and flash fried steak for the veg dodger).  This plant based rib sticker stew was a total winner.

For the stew:

Olive oil
onions
garlic
swede
carrots
potatoes
mushrooms
butternut squash
vegetable stock
mustard
tinned tomatoes
butter beans
red cabbage
apple juice
red wine


Dumplings

Self raising flour (gluten free for us)
salt and pepper
olive oil
plant based veg spread (soya margarine for us)
soya milk
parsley

1.  Slowly fry chopped onion and crushed garlic in olive oil.
2.  Prep veg - peel, chop into more or less even sized pieces - all of the veg.  Chucnk into the pan with the onions.  Stir around and then add some stock.  Simmer.
3.  Add a spoonful of mustard and season to taste.
4.  Drain a tin of butter beans.    Add a tin of chopped tomatoes to the pan, follow with a tinful of water - turn it down and simmer for 20 minutes or so … until the veg yield to the tip of a knife.
5.  Make the braised cabbage (optional, obvs … but it goes really nicely)  sweat off chopped onion and crushed garlic, add a splash of apple juice and a splash of red wine - then shredded red cabbage - simmer gently - add more water if needed .. keep simmering and checking water level until done.
6.  Mix self raising flour with a little salt and a grind of pepper, add chopped parsley - drizzle in some olive oil and a knob  of plant based marg - cut the fat through the flour, then add soya milk and mix to a firm dough.
7.  Add the drained butter beans to the stew.
8.  Make the dumplings by mixing the mixture until you can form small balls in your hand - add more "milk" if too dry or more flour if too wet/sticky.
9.  Drop dumplings onto stew … cover … steam,/simmer for 20 minutes
10.  Serve, scoff (fry minute steaks in a hot pan for 5 minutes before serving if necessary!  the veg dodger was happy with good stew, dumplings, cabbage and MEAT)