Preparing a Vegan Sausage casserole

Vegan sausages are ideal for casseroles and this traditional style of cooking lends itself very well to delivering flavour. This is a vegan sausage casserole which lends itself extremely well to a range of added vegetables and herbs so its extremely flexible. I like to think of this one as a fridge supper recipe.

Ingredients:

• 350g vegan sausages
• 2 tablespoon olive oil for frying sausages and 2 tablespoons of this oil for the casserole sauce.
• 1 red bell pepper – sliced
• 1 medium red onion – sliced
• 1 medium courgette/zucchini – sliced into rounds
• 2 teaspoon or more of ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 can (400ml) tomatoes – chopped
• 250ml/1 cup vegan vegetable stock or broth

Preparation:

1. Heat up a pan and add the sausages. Add the olive oil and cook the vegan sausages whole. Brown as best as possible – they might not look it but they should be cooked thoroughly at this step.
2. Slice the sausages in the pan. Take care not to scratch the surface. Sir the sausage pieces to keep them warm.
3. Remove the sausage and place on a plate or in a bowl.
4. To the warm pan, add red pepper pieces, red onion, courgette/zucchini and more olive oil. Mix around to make sure all the pieces are coated in oil. 
5. When the courgette/zucchini has browned, add ground cumin, thyme, tomato paste, a can of tomatoes, maple syrup and add back the sausage pieces. 
6. Add a cup of vegetable broth or vegetable stock (vegan).
7. Give a good mix up and keep cooking for about 10 -15 minutes until the casserole has fully cooked. It should smell glorious!