I popped over to Borough market the other day.  It was typical British weather.  Miserable weeping skies and wind to blow it straight in your face.  Being a glasses wearer I was effectively blind.  Thank goodness Borough market is under cover.  I took refuge there.

I never get tired of Borough market, the range of quality artisan food is unrivalled in London.  I could happily spend a small fortune there and do a shop for the week.  Two things stop me.  I am not Bill Gates, and fresh food really deserves immediate attention.  I tend to buy for that day or maybe a weekend as a treat.  If I lived closer, I would be considerably poorer.  It’s lovely to go down once in a while and shop in the vibrant buzz of the market rather than pushing a trolley down a soul-less aisle.

I picked up (amongst other things), some fat Toulouse sausages from The Ginger Pig, a fantastic butcher whose animals come from their own farms.  I wanted to make a quick lunch that used the sausages and pretty much only store cupboard ingredients.  Taking my inspiration from cassoulet (and baked beans) this is what I came up with.

ingredients for 4:

8 large, good quality sausages
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 tins of beans (I used cannellini and butter beans)
1 chopped onion
2 chopped sticks of celery
3 crushed cloves of garlic
2 heaped tspns dijon mustard
splash worcester sauce
salt and pepper

method:

• sweat onion celery and garlic in a little oil for 10-15 minutes
• add chopped tomatoes and half a can of water and bring to boil
• add drained beans, the mustard, worcester sauce and simmer for 15 minutes
• season to taste
• transfer to oven proof dish, nestle in two sausages per person and bake/grill until cooked and bubbling

A prefect winter lunch or supper. Serve with some crusty white bread to soak up the juices.  It would be nice to add a little chopped parsley stirred in.  I didn’t have any, so I didn’t use any.