SAUSAGE AND APPLE STEW
We all love a sausage stew and this one with grated apple and smoked bacon strikes the perfect balance of fruity-sweet and salty, with a hint of smokey. It’s the kind of dish winter evenings were made for.
Equipment
- Chef’s knife + chopping board
- Colander or sieve
- Large measuring jug + mini wire hand whisk
- Peeler + grater
- Mezzaluna (optional)
- Garlic press
- Large casserole pot / dutch oven / lidded saucepan
- Large frying pan or baking tray / sheet
Ingredients
- 6-10 good quality sausages I use Heck 97% pork content sausages or pork & leek see note 1
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 150- 300 g (½-1 pack) smoked bacon sliced, see note 1
- 2 leeks white and light green part, quartered lengthways, sliced thickly & washed
- 2 sticks celery sliced finely
- 3 small or 2 large sweet apples (like golden delicious, gala) peeled & grated, see note 2
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 600 ml hot chicken stock / bouillon
- 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
- 600 g baby potatoes larger ones halved, see note 3
- 300 g parsnips or carrots peeled and chopped into bitesize pieces
- Salt & pepper to taste see note 4
Instructions
- First start cooking the sausages. You can do this while you prep all the other ingredients. You can either brown the sausages in the oven at 200ºc/180ºc fan/400ºf/gas6 for around 25-30 minutes or in a large frying pan over a medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes.
- Heat a large casserole pot or saucepan on the hob over a high heat and add the oil. Add the leeks, celery, apple, bacon and fry for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the garlic and cook, stirring often for 1 more minute.
- Add in the potatoes, parsnips, stock, thyme and seasoning. Level everything out and don’t worry if it’s not all covered in the stock. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes or until the potatoes and parsnips are tender. Once the sausages are cooked, pop them on top of the vegetables. If they aren’t ready in time to do that, don’t worry it isn’t essential that they go in.
- When you come to serve, remove the sausages and dish up the vegetables, then top with whole sausages for adults and slices for children (if eating with a baby see section below).
Notes
Note 1: for adults I recommend 2-3 sausages, older children 2, young children 1 and under 1’s none. For the bacon, go all out if you like with the full quantity or stick to half for a healthier dish.
Note 2: peel and grate the apple just before you add it to the pot to keep it fresh, otherwise will go brown.
Note 3: alternatively you can use peeled and quartered white potatoes
Note 4: remember that the sausages and bacon are salty so be careful when adding salt
GO GLUTEN FREE use gluten-free sausages and stock/bouillon.
Baby & Toddler
Omit the salt from the cook, and you can use low salt chicken stock. If you are serving to under 1’s leave the sausage off their serving and pick out the strips of bacon as they shouldn’t have processed meat.
With a sharp knife and fork, thinly slice the sausage and then chop in half. Chop the potatoes and parsnip into bitesize pieces.
BABY-LED WEANING
When you dish up their serving, use a slotted spoon to limit the amount of liquid you end up putting on their plate. They can have the celery and leeks as is. 6-8 MONTHS when you are prepping the parsnip and potatoes, slice a large baby potato in half lengthways for little one and cook it like that. Then once done, slice into wedges no more than ½ inch wide. Slice a parsnip in half lengthways and then cut that in half horizontally and cook 2 pieces as is, then slice those into sticks no more than ½ inch wide once cooked. 9-11 MONTHS once cooked, dice the potato and parsnip into pea size cubes. 1 YEAR + cut the potato and parsnip into bite-size pieces.SPOON FEEDING
6-9 MONTHS using your stick blender, whizz their portion of veg and sauce into a delicious potato and leek soup! Add more of the broth as needed. 10-12 Months serve as a soup (see 6-9 mos) or gradually pulse the veg in your mini food chopper until well chopped, with no big lumps and adding more of the broth, some warm boiled water or stock as needed. 12 MONTH TRANSITION Mash the potatoes and parsnip (or carrot) with the back of a fork. Thinly slice the sausages and then cut those sausages in half. Leave the leeks and celery as is. 1 Year +With a sharp knife and fork, thinly slice the sausage and then chop in half. Chop the potatoes and parsnip into bitesize pieces.
Nutrition
Calories: 1333kcalCarbohydrates: 93gProtein: 79gFat: 72gSaturated Fat: 22gPolyunsaturated Fat: 13gMonounsaturated Fat: 29gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 142mgSodium: 39169mgPotassium: 2048mgFiber: 11gSugar: 47gVitamin A: 1042IUVitamin C: 60mgCalcium: 387mgIron: 6mg
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