On the first Tuesday of every month we like to head down to Guildford High Street to marvel at all the delicious, locally produced foods and compile a recipe for you based on ingredients we have managed to buy- here’s our offering for the November Farmers Market. We try and support businesses by buying some tasty little treats and picking up fantastic fresh food to cook great meals for under £5 a person. Doing this, it shows that you don’t need to break the bank to eat healthy food that is locally grown, sourced, produced and manufactured.
So with November’s Farmers Market falling on Bonfire Night, I thought it only appropriate to rustle up a traditional, hearty and warming British favourite; Sausage & Mash. This particular recipe includes a side of chantenay carrots and curly kale that looked absolutely delicious sitting on a stall earlier that day, but could be replaced with most other vegetables. I also added some red wine to the gravy to add a bit of extra depth, but that was just an added bonus of having an open bottle already in the house. And as per usual this whole meal costs under £5 a person, I even had enough change left over to pick up some homemade flapjack from another stall as an easy desert that compliments this meal on a cold winter’s night!
Ingredients:
6 fresh pork & leek sausages
5 or 6 small white potatoes
A handful of chantenay carrots
Some curly kale
A cup or two of red wine
½ pint of vegetable water
Gravy granules/powder
A sprinkle of parsley
A nob of butter
A splash of milk
A pallet of (stall-bought) homemade flapjack
Cooking time: 25-30mins
Serves: 2
Instructions:
- Peel the potatoes whilst bringing a large pan of water to the boil. Place the potatoes into the water with a pinch of salt and put the pork & leek sausages in the oven on a medium to high heat
- Whilst waiting for the potatoes to soften peel your chantenay carrots and cut down to smaller chunks and wash. Start bringing another smaller pan to the boil
- Rip or cut the leaves of the curly kale and discard the tough centre stalk and then shred or chop the leaves into smaller pieces before running under some cold water
- Check on the sausages, turn them and add the carrots to the second boiling pan once you think the potatoes have 10 minutes left
- Add a cup or two of red wine (depending on taste) to a third pan and slowly heat on a low temparature for 10 minutes to boil off the alcohol
- Add the curly kale to the carrots after they have been cooking for approximately 5 minutes
- Take the potatoes off the boil once suitably softened and drain the water. Place the potatoes back in the pan and add a generous nob of butter and a few splashes of milk or cream.
- Sprinkle in some fresh or dried parsley and season with salt and pepper and mash everything together until you have a soft and creamy texture with no lumps left!
- Take the vegetables and wine off the heat. Drain ½ pint of the vegetable water and add to the pan with the wine also stirring in a few spoonful’s of gravy powder/granules (in small instalments) until the sauce is thick enough for your taste
- Take the sausages out of the oven and plate them up alongside the mashed potato. Drain the rest of the water from the veg and add the kale and carrots to the plate. Pour over red wine gravy to taste.
- After dinner open packet of flapjack, sit back and enjoy someone else’s hard work!
James Martin
