I often have this for dinner, but when I was searching on here the other day I realised I have never put the recipe on this blog- shocking!
It is loosely based on a Rachel Allen recipe from her Bake book, called simple sausage and bean bake. This makes 2 big portions and it is easily adapted to make it veggie/ non veggie without loads of pans (so ideal for me and Andy).
Preheat the oven to 220C.
If using actual sausages, pierce them and cook them in the oven in a dish for 10 mins while you get the rest ready.
Chop a red onion and soften in a pan- use a little spray oil.
Once the onion is softened, add 2 chopped peppers (can add other veggies here- we sometimes add courgette as that goes quite well). Once they are softened, add a splash of balsamic vinegar.
Then add one tin of chopped tomatoes, one tin of drained cannelini beans, some dried basil and some garlic paste (although sometimes I leave out the garlic- you could also add chilli here).
Mine is on the left, and Andy (with sausages) on the right- an easy meal to please veggies and meat eaters- although he does eat it without meat sometimes too.
Place this in an ovenproof dish. If using sausages, pour it over the top. (As Andy has this with sausages, we do 2 separate dishes. I did used to add veggie sausages to mine, but they stopped making the ones I liked, so I just have it without now).
Bake for 35 mins. Optional- 5 mins from the end top with some mozzerella. Or top with a little grated cheddar once it come out of the oven.
Serve with some delicious bread, like my seedy bread.
This is so delicious! I think I might try adding sundried tomatoes to the mix to amp up that flavour. Something about the cannelini beans and the bread just go so well together, and I find it so filling and a really warming comforting dinner. It really only takes ten minutes to do the chopping and cooking, then just leave it to bake while you get on with other things (like reading blogs, how handy– or having a shower if you just got back from a run).
Also, on a totally off-topic rant, I came across this news article, about vegetarian labelled foods in restaurants containing meat. Have you ever been given something that turned out to be non-vegetarian? Recently I was given a ham and cheese roll on a BA flight. A long time ago in France I was given a cheese croissant which turned out to contain ham, and in the USA some vegetable soup which had big beef chunks in it. I do get annoyed with resturants that label items vegetarian when they contain parmesan too, but that is another issue for another day!
Mmm this looks like such winter food! I often make something like this but I never bake it afterwards, do you think that makes it stick together a little more?
Yeah I think it softens up the beans too, and the flavours sort of melt together. Mainly it needs to cook for the sausages I suppose, but it makes all the veggies softer and nicer I think
Oh yum it does look nice! My OH is a meat eater as well, so this is handy to know.
Yeah we have to be a little creative as it is nice to have similar meals and not two totally seperate ones.
That bake looks lovely! I don’t think I’ve ever been given anything veggie with meat in thank goodness, those are some horror stories, I would hate that!
I know, and the worst thing is how bad the staff were at dealing with it.
This looks like a fab autumn/winter dish. I love dishes that can be made veggie/non-veggie with minimal hassle, that’s something I always struggle with when meal planning for my meat-loving boyfriend and I. I often make something similar to this bake with veg, tinned toms and beans/lentils but I never thought to try baking it in the oven at the end. Will try that next time 🙂
Yes we find this one easy as it is all in the same pan to begin with, and just bake it side by side in separate dishes. Simple.
I love beans, so I’m sure that I would really like that bake. I make something similar on the hob because I’m too lazy to use the oven 🙂
This looks right up my street especially as I’m trying to stick to a budget these days. 🙂
Exactly- it is a super cheap meal too (esp if you replaced peppers with some cheaper veg) 🙂
mmmmm loks yum sans the sausages, nice for a chilly autumn evening.
That looks like perfect comfort food dinner for a cold day, perfect! I love the look of your seedy bread too 🙂
My sister’s vegetarian and she said there’s been so many times she’s been promised something vegetarian and found out it’s got meat in, which is so wrong! On the same lines, kind of, I’ve been promised gluten-free in restaurants a few times and felt ill afterwards… if they can’t cater for someone, they should say so!
And that is worse for you really, as eating gluten will make you actually ill, as opposed to making me just feel ill!
I once found a piece of chicken in my vegetable rogan josh, I was really upset cause I didn’t know if I’d accidentally eaten any.. The takeaway were reluctant to sort it out but they eventually refunded it.. they only wanted to refund half as I’d already eaten almost half lol
Oh no that is horrible! That is so cheeky about the refund too- it was not what you ordered so you should not have paid for any of it!
The southern US is infamous for making vegetarian things non-vegetarian like cooking greens in bacon grease etc. I’m not veg, so I’m not usually bothered one way or another, & I don’t think it’s happened to me, but it doesn’t surprise me. Many people don’t even know what veg or vegan actually means.
Yeah I spent a lot of time on holiday asking about things like that- I found out things like rice on a veggie meal cooked in chicken stock, stuff like that.