Sausage And Cider Casserole With Colcannon

SAUSAGE AND CIDER CASSEROLE RECIPE 

• Serves – 4 people
• Prep Time – 20 minutes
• Cook Time – 1 hour 30 minutes
• Total Time – 1 hour 50 minutes 
• Our Most Popular Alternative – Easy Sausage Casserole

EQUIPMENT NEEDED

• Chopping board
• Vegetable knife
• Casserole pan (one you can use in the oven and on the hob - we use a Le Creuset casserole pan.
• Measuring jug
• Cooking spoon

SAUSAGE AND CIDER CASSEROLE INGREDIENTS

• sausages - just choose your favourite kind - we use pork sausages with a high meat content.
• red apple - peeled and sliced
• carrots - peeled and sliced
• brown onions - peeled and roughly chopped
• beef stock
• apple cider - we use a medium dry cider

If you grow herbs in the garden, you can add in some fresh sage leaves, a few sprigs of fresh thyme and a couple of bay leaves too. I switch up the herbs I add depending on what is ready to pick when I'm making the casserole. If you wanted to add in some extra vegetables, then try a tin of butter beans.

HOW TO MAKE SAUSAGE AND CIDER CASSEROLE

I use a pan with a lid that's suitable for use on the hob and in the oven - if you don't have one just use a frying pan and then tip the ingredients into an oven proof large casserole dish.

• Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 4 - grab our super useful oven temperature conversion chart here
• Brown the sausages

• Add the carrots, apple and brown onions into the casserole pan with the sausages.
• Pour over the beef stock and cider and season with salt & pepper.
• Place into the oven and cook for 90 minutes or until the sausages are cooked through properly and the vegetables tender.
• If the casserole needs thickening just add a couple of spoonfuls of cornflour mixed with a drop of water - stir into the casserole and bring to the boil.

If you're serving the sausage and cider casserole then start to make the colcannon around 30 minutes before the casserole will be cooked and ready to serve.

COLCANNON INGREDIENTS

• 1.5kg potatoes - peeled and cut into quarters
• 200g cavolo nero - finely sliced, if you can't get cavolo nero just use any dark green cabbage you like.
• 1 red onion - peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic - peeled and finely chopped
• 50g butter
• 100-150ml of milk or cream - use more or less depending on how much liquid you feel the potatoes need when you're mashing.
• 2 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
• Salt and pepper - to taste

HOW TO MAKE COLCANNON

• Boil the potatoes in boiling salted water until tender.
• Whilst the potatoes cook - heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan and gently fry the red onion, garlic and cavolo nero until tender.
• Once the potatoes are cooked mash them with the butter and milk. Then tip in the fried onions, cabbage and garlic, add the mustard and stir together so that everything is mixed well together.

I like to grab dinner bowls, dollop in the colcannon potatoes then ladle over the sausage and cider casserole and dig-in! Oh, and I usually add some crusty bread on the side, smothered with too much butter, just because it tastes so good dunked in the cider sauce.

This is autumn in a dish for me!

DO YOU NEED TO BROWN SAUSAGES BEFORE PUTTING IN A CASSEROLE?

YES ABSOLUTELY! I always brown the sausages otherwise your casserole will just look horrible, I mean technically they still cook fine un-browned, but they look vile!

HOW TO BULK UP THE SAUSAGE AND CIDER CASSEROLE TO FEED MORE PEOPLE

• Add in more veggies – try mushrooms, sliced peppers, celery or leeks.
• Throw in a tin of beans or lentils – try butterbeans, they go nicely with sausages 

WHAT TO SERVE WITH SAUSAGE AND CIDER CASSEROLE

We love this with the colcannon potatoes - if you're making colcannon then make too much of it because colcannon makes unbelievably good bubble & squeak the next day... topped with a nice runny fried egg. TOO GOOD!

You could also serve with cheesy mashed potatoes, or some mashed root vegetables (a mix of sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips and swede) or spoon the sausage and cider casserole into oven baked potatoes. It's also nice with rice or pasta.

MORE SAUSAGE RECIPES TO MAKE

• The BEST Sausage Sandwiches 
• Sausage Hotpot
• Sausage Stir Fry