Recipe: Spicy Bean Stew with Sausages

SPICY BEAN STEW WITH SAUSAGES

3 tablespoons olive or canola oil
8 good free-range pork sausages
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves
1 (about 14 1/2 ounce) can cannellini beans
1 (about 10 ounce) can kidney beans
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, or a good grinding from a whole nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 sprigs fresh
2 cans (about 14 1/2ounces each) plum tomatoes
Salt and black pepper

Place the saucepan on the stove and spoon in the oil. Turn on the heat to medium, add the sausages and fry them, turning them over until they are browned on the outside. Fish them out of the pan, and set them aside on a plate.

While the sausages are browning, peel the onion and garlic and chop them as small as you can. Drain the cans of beans into a colander and rinse them with cold water.

Add the onion to the pan, turn the heat down to low, cover the pan and cook the onion gently in the pan for about 10 minutes, stirring from time to time so that it doesn't stick. It will pick up all the lovely sausagey goo in the bottom of the pan.

Add the garlic and fry for another couple of minutes. Add the brown sugar and grate in some nutmeg. Stir in the cayenne, cloves and dried or fresh thyme.

Pour in the tomatoes and break them up with a wooden spoon or a potato masher. Add the sausages to the pan, along with the beans. Season with salt and lots of black pepper. Give everything a good stir and turn up the heat to medium. When the stew starts to simmer, put the lid on, turn the heat down and let it bubble away gently. Stir occasionally to make sure it isn't burning on the bottom of the pan. You can leave it for at least an hour or up to 2 hours.

Makes 4 servings
Source: The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Fizz Carr