Sweet Potato Topped Sausage and Kale Cassoulet

I do love a good, hearty and warming Crock-Pot dinner. Crock-Pots (the original slow cooker) are fantastic and perfect for busy people and families.

Once all the ingredients are in the Crock-Pot, it can be left alone and dinner will cook itself - marvelous!

Having been asked to be part of the Collective Crock Challenge, meaning myself and a few other bloggers had to name an ingredient that we'd like to see included in the Collective Crock-Pot recipe.

I was asked to name the main ingredient and I said sausages. I say there's nothing like a proper good quality sausage; sausages in a Crock-Pot say winter is here.

None of us knew what ingredient each other had said and the people at Crock-Pot came up with this collective cooks recipe.

So along with my suggestion of sausages here is the list of ingredients named by the other bloggers that were to be included in the final recipe.

• Kale
• Butterbeans
• Tinned Chopped Tomatoes
• Red Onion
• Brown Ale
• Butternut Squash
• Sweet Potato

A bit of a mixture but in for a penny in for a pound as they say, and armed with the recipe for 'Sweet Potato topped Sausage and Kale Cassoulet' it was out with the Crock-Pot and time for me to get cooking!

A quick word about this recipe; I must say when I read it I was just a tad concerned that it had quite a lot of ingredients and if I'm honest I really didn't think it would actually work.  But with that said I made it and we ate it all and I have to say it was actually rather good and really very tasty.

I will admit I left out the pancetta as I say it isn't necessary with sausages.

Yield: 6Author: Jan Bennett

Sweet Potato topped Sausage and Kale Cassoulet

I halved the recipe since there are only two of us and I'd say only a handful of kale since 200g is a lot!

ingredients:

1 tbsp vegetable oil

800g good quality sausages

100g diced pancetta cubetti

1 large red onion, finely sliced

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

½ red chilli, finely chopped

1 heaped tsp paprika (you can use smoked if you prefer)

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

200ml brown ale

1 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp tomato puree

400g tinned chopped tomatoes

200ml vegetable stock

1 small to medium butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and diced into largish chunks

200g of shredded Kale

400g Butter or cannellini beans

Freshly ground black pepper

Topping – 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and steamed or boiled whole

25g melted butter

Chopped parsley

instructions

Place the vegetable oil into a suitable frying pan and brown the sausages quickly, turning to ensure each side is browned. Remove from the pan and place into the removable bowl.

Add the pancetta to the hot pan and again sauté for a few minutes stirring regularly, spoon onto the sausages. Add the sliced onions to the pan, adding a further splash of oil if necessary, cook over medium heat for a few minutes until softened.

Add the garlic, chilli, paprika, and thyme and continue to cook for a further minute. Increase the heat.

Pour in the brown ale and allow to bubble and reduce, sprinkle over the flour and stir well over low heat. Add the puree, tomatoes, and stock.

Pour over the sausages in the bowl.

Add the squash, stir well and cover with the lid. Cook on Low for 6 hours or High for 4-5 hours.

Add the Kale and beans 1 hour before the cooking time has elapsed.

Break the cooked sweet potatoes into pieces and layer over the finished dish, brushing with a little melted butter and a dusting of freshly ground black pepper.

Grill in your oven for 5 minutes until hot and crispy.  Scatter with some chopped parsley and serve.

Created using The Recipes Generator

I enjoyed this challenge and the recipe was as I've already said, really very tasty and I say it's well worth giving it a go.


Disclaimer - I received a payment to cover my time and ingredients along with a Crock-Pot.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.