Sausage, Leek, & Butterbeans w. Romesco
Cook Time: ~30 mins
This is a great lazy lunch or dinner which consists of bunging some things into an oven dish, blending up a sauce, and serving. The bed of the dish is a fresh, tangy, and zesty Romesco sauce with a smoky and nutty undertone. On top, are deliciously soft leeks, tomatoes, and butter beans; rounded off with a few Lincolnshire sausage balls.
Serves: 2-4
Prep: ~10 minutes
Cook: ~30 minutes
Ingredients
2x large leeks
Lincolnshire sausage (~800g)
Plum tomatoes (~350g)
Butter beans (~400g)
Flat leaf parsley (~20g)
Oregano (2 tsp)
Olive oil
Salt & black pepper
Romesco sauce
4x Red peppers
1x Lemon (juice)
3x Garlic cloves
Sun-dried tomatoes (~50g)
Almonds (~100g)
Flat leaf parsley (~15g)
Extra virgin olive oil (1/4 cup)
Smoked paprika (1 tsp)
Red wine vinegar (2 tsp)
Salt (1 tsp)
Chilli flakes (1 tsp)
Notes
Roasted peppers: If you want to save time, buy a jar (~400g) of roasted red peppers.
Sausage meat: I buy sausages, but you can alternatively buy sausage meat, or use other meats such as beef or lamb to form meatballs or koftas.
Equipment
Large oven tray
Food processor
Mise En Place
Chop the flat-leaf parsley.
Slice the leeks into 2cm thick circles. Form equally-sized balls with the sausage meat. Add a splash of oil to a deep oven tray and add the leeks, sausage, tomatoes and oregano with a touch of seasoning.
If roasting peppers, stick them on the top shelf of an oven at 200°C until the skin turns black. Migrate them into a plastic bag to steam for 15 minutes, and then pinch the blackened skins off.
Decant all the ingredients for the romesco sauce into a food processor and blitz until moderately smooth. A few almond chunks are fine and welcome. If you can, let marinade in the fridge for ~30 minutes.
The Cook
Preheat the oven to 200°C and bung in the tray with leeks, sausage, and tomatoes. Cook for ~10 minutes, turning the sausage.
Tip: If you are not feeling lazy, I would recommend browning the meat for 5 minutes and letting rest for another 5 minutes during the first 10 minutes of cooking the leeks and tomatoes. This will lock in more flavour. Add the sausage meat to the tray at the 10 minute mark.
Add the butter beans, and a sprinkling of parsley, and give the tray a good shake. Back into the oven for ~15 minutes. If you haven’t browned the meat previously, sticking the tray on the top shelf for 5-10 minutes with occasionally turning can help. Once the meat is cooking, the tomatoes bursting open, and the leeks are soft, it’s ready for serving.
To serve, lay down a thick base of Romesco sauce, add tomatoes, leeks, and butter beans, and top with sausage and parsley. A garnish of lemon wedges or zest is a welcome addition.
If you attempt this dish, let me know how it goes, and if you variate the recipe in any way. This newsletter relies upon word of mouth, so if you know someone who would enjoy this recipe please share it.
Thanks for reading,
Conor