Sausage Bake

I am continuously on the lookout for new and exciting flavour combinations and because so much had been - NOT ALLOWED - anything is new to me. Cherry tomatoes may have been bought every now and again with the sole purpose of being eaten out of the packet. If I'd attempted to cook them, I would have been met by screwed up faces. Now that I am free to cook almost anything, I can experiment all I wish - and I do. I'll admit that I haven't always enjoyed everything, but with a new philosophy of anything goes I can honestly say I am no longer missing out.

 

Tomato and Sausage Bake

700g ripe cherry tomatoes

1tsp each of dried thyme, rosemary and oregano

1 bay leaf

 1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped

4 of your favourite sausages

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

 

Salt and pepper to taste

1.       Preheat your oven 190˚C/375˚F, place all the tomatoes and the sausages into a roasting pan, if you can place all your tomatoes in one tight layer and then sprinkle all the herbs on top, drizzle with olive oil and vinegar then season with salt and pepper. Carefully toss it altogether making sure that the sausages remain on top. Put it in the oven for 30 mins, take it out give it a good shake and then return it to the oven for 15-30 minutes.

2.       If the sauce is too loose when you remove it from the oven, remove the sausages and place the roasting pan on the hob and reduce the sauce a bit, to the right consistency. Return the sausages to the sauce and serve with crusty bread, rice or mashed potato.

 

 

Potato And Lamb Bake

                                                

Glen really enjoys lamb and until he cooked lamb chops for about 12 months before I cooked this I hadn't eaten lamb in at least 18 years - so this was another first for me. I own a V cutter and made the mistake of cutting the potato too thinly the first time around, so they stuck together into one massive clump and increased the cooking time (example number 1 of not reading the recipe properly) but apart from that it's really tasty, although probably best as a belly warming winter onepot! You could even serve this with hot Garlic bread to mop up those tasty creamy juices.


Potato And Lamb Bake


400 grams lamb loin chops cut into thin slices
flour for coating
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 clove garlic, crushed
Salt and pepper, to taste
Italian seasoning
750 grams potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
butter for greasing
nutmeg
sage
125 grams cream
1/8 litre milk
50 grams grated cheese
30 grams butter flakes


1. Coat the lamb in the flour shaking off any excess, heat the oil and fry the meat until crispy.


2. Heavily season the meat with 1 garlic clove, salt, pepper and the herbs.


3. Halve the second garlic clove and with butter, grease the casserole dish.


4. Preheat the oven to 200°C (410°F approximately). Place half the potatoes in the dish season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, then cover with the lamb and sage then put on the last layer of potato and season again.


5. Mix the cream and milk, pour over the potatoes and lamb, sprinkle the cheese on top, spread the butter flakes and bake for 50 minutes until potatoes are soft.
Servings: 4