This is a recipe for a simple, but hearty and delicious sausage stew. Because of its short ingredient list and the fact that you can store most of the ingredients for a long time (canned or frozen), it makes for an ideal back-up meal option. Furthermore, the amount of each ingredient can be varied quite a bit and substituted depending on your preference. It is also quick to make.
All in all, it is an ideal recipe if you are learning how to cook.
Ingredients (serves 3-4):
6 fresh sausages (ideally chorizo or pork & fennel, but any uncooked fresh ones will do)
400g canned chickpeas
400g canned crushed tomatoes
3-4 mushrooms (button or Swiss)
0.5-1 bag of spinach
Italian spices (suggest any mix of smoked paprika, oregano, rosemary, thyme)
Grated cheese (optional)
- Peel the sausages and dice or tear the meat into very small pieces
- Heat pan (preferably a deep one like a wok or broad pot) to medium-high and start cooking the sausages
- Break up the sausage meat as it cooks with a spatula or wooden spoon
- When the sausages are browning, add thickly sliced mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes
- Add smoked paprika and spinach, then toss for just under a minute to let the spinach wilt slightly
- Add canned chickpeas, tomatoes and rest of the spices
- Mix everything together and cook until liquids start to bubble
- Turn heat down to low and simmer the stew, add in rest of spices, season with salt and pepper
- Mix in handful of grated cheese and let it melt in as the stew simmers
- Serve
Other than the sausages, chickpeas and tomatoes, almost every other ingredient is optional. You can take the cheese, mushrooms and spinach out, and add other vegetables you would like, such as onions or capsicums. If the stew is too meaty, you can reduce the number of sausages to 3-4 instead.
You can even take the chickpeas out and instead crack two or three eggs into the stew when it is simmering, then bake for 7-10 minutes in the oven to make baked eggs.
