This is a genuinely family-friendly, hearty meal that will keep everyone satisfied during cooler weather. It’s budget-friendly and easily adapted to other meats—cubed chicken thighs or economical cuts of beef work well in place of sausages.
I recommend choosing good-quality sausages from your butcher and opting for leaner varieties when possible, such as thin beef, lamb, or chicken sausages. Pork sausages tend to be fattier.
One of the best things about this recipe is its flexibility: you can add your family’s favorite vegetables and they’ll turn out delicious. Slow cooking softens vegetables, making them easier for young children to enjoy.
Use the core ingredients—bacon, onion, garlic, tomato purée, stock, chickpeas and pasta—as a base, then experiment with different combinations of meat and vegetables.
INGREDIENTS
500 g sausages of your choice
3 rashers of bacon, chopped
1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 capsicum, deseeded and diced
1 carrot, chopped into cubes
1 cup peas or sliced asparagus (or other vegetables you need to use up)
1 x 400 ml can tomato purée
1 cup chicken stock
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Optional: add 2 cups dry pasta and an extra cup of water 30 minutes before the end of cooking.
METHOD
1. In a frying pan over medium-high heat, brown the sausages along with the onion, garlic and chopped bacon until lightly golden while you prepare the vegetables.
2. In an oven-safe, lidded dish, place the chopped vegetables and then add the cooked sausages, bacon, onion and garlic. Stir in the rinsed chickpeas.
3. Pour over the tomato purée and chicken stock, then mix gently so all ingredients are combined.
4. Cover with the lid and place in a preheated oven at 150°C (300°F) for approximately 2–3 hours. If adding pasta, stir in 2 cups dry pasta and an extra cup of water about 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time so the pasta finishes cooking in the sauce.
If you don’t add pasta, serve with crusty bread to soak up the flavorful juices.
Serves 4 to 6.
Leftovers: store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.