Italian Sausage & Vegetable Bake

I'll be honest, this is not the prettiest of dishes but what it lacks in supermodel looks, it more than makes up in flavour.  It's a perfect "throw it in the oven" dinner while you relax on the sofa with the Sunday papers and as it's cooked in one dish, it's very handy for cleaning up afterwards as well.

I used beautiful Italian sausages from James Whelan Butchers in Clonmel (I won a voucher from them earlier in the year for my now award-winning Pork, Onion & Herb Stuffing) and spent it on lots of delicious meat.  I take the sausages out of their skins & form them into little meatballs, scattering them around the dish like little Italian flavourbombs.  I use a mandolin to slice the potatoes as thinly as possible - it's faster than slicing by hand, but if you don't have one, just use your sharpest knife and remember that the thinner the slices, the faster the dish will cook.

I'll apologise in advance for the lack of a photo of the cooked dish - we were so hungry that we'd scoffed half of it before I remembered!  We can assure you that it is delicious though...

Divine Italian Sausages from James Whelan

Italian Sausage & Vegetable Bake

4 Sausages, removed from skins & formed into balls
2 Potatoes, peeled & finely sliced
2 Leeks, trimmed & finely sliced
1 Onion, finely sliced
200g Mushrooms, finely sliced
1 Savoy Cabbage, shredded
500ml Vegetable Stock
Salt & pepper

Preheat your oven to 200c/Gas Mark 6

Using a lidded oven-proof dish (I'm using my trusty Le Creuset), layer the half of the vegetables, seasoning well, then add half of the sausages, repeat - finishing with a layer of potatoes.

Pour over the stock - it should just about come to the top of the potatoes.

Cover and bake for 50 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.