Slow Cooked Sausage and Beans

This is definitely not a normal August dish but as I write this it is grey and drizzling, feels more like Autumn and  I  definitely need warming food. Juicy sausages with earthy pinto beans slow cooked til rich and sticky.

It is best to use dried beans in casseroles or slow cooks,  the tinned beans just turn to mush. When using dried beans in a slow cook dish like this , you do need to cook them before adding them to the slow cooker/casserole.

I recently braved my fear of the pressure cooker which massively reduces the precooking time from 45 to 15 minutes. It is then a matter of throwing  all the ingredients into the slow cooker for hands off cooking mean it doesn’t matter that I get distracted which is happening a lot at the moment

Slow Cooked Sausages and Beans

For 4 people

8 Lincolnshire sausages
200g of dried pinto beans
1 large onion roughly chopped
2 rashers of thick cut smokey bacon
3 cloves of garlic , peeled
1 pint of stock
2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp of tomato puree
Dried sage , thyme or bay leaves

1. Soak the pinto beans overnight
2. In a saucepan/pressure cooker cover the beans with at least 2 inches of water, add the garlic cloves
3. Cook in the pressure cooker for 12 minutes (high pressure)   or gently simmer in a pan for 40 minutes. Remove the garlic and rinse the beans
4. At this point you can grill or fry the sausages, this is not essential but makes the sausages look better.
5. Place the sausages ,bacon, pinto beans ,garlic onions , stock , and vinegar tomato puree in casserole dish or slow cooker.
6. Put it in the oven at 160degC for 2 hours or on low in the slow cooker for 6 hours
7. Serve with crusty bread and a sprinkling of fresh herbs

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