Sausage and Lentil stew

This was ridiculously good and despite the meat content, didn't feel greasy at all. Fall perfect and worth a definite repeat. We followed this and this recipe among others but mostly for procedure since I used neither the type of lentils nor the type of sausages they recommended.

Ingredients

• Smallest packet smoked pork belly, chopped or pancetta
• 2 packets fresh and cheap sausages (high meat content), sausages cut into 1" pieces (We used salsiccia for this first attempt
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 large carrot, chopped into small pieces
• 8 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 Tbsp dried rosemary 
• 300g dried green/ brown lentils, soaked ~ 30 minutes. 
• 850ml chicken stock
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 400g can diced tomatoes
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh or frozen flatleaf parsley or scallions

Method 

1. Add the chopped pork belly/ pancetta to a heated dutch oven. Once some oil is released add the sausages and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until nicely browned. Transfer the sausages out on to a plate.
2. Add the onions, carrot and garlic to the pancetta/pork belly and continue to cook for 10 minutes until the onions soften. 
3. Return the sausages to the pan and add the rosemary, lentils, stock, vinegar and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer rapidly for 5 minutes, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring every so often until the lentils are tender. 
4. Check the seasoning, scatter over the parsley or scallions.

Brazilian Feijoada

I've made this recipe 3-4 times now and it is this rich, fatty stew that is perfect for cold fall or snow days. It is very flavourful but has very little spice. I followed a couple of different recipes for this over the years but this is a good basis. Major differences are that I usually use this recipe as a vehicle for goan sausage and I use canned black beans instead of fresh. We also love the braised kale/collard greens recipe that is traditionally served with this.

Ingredients

• 3-4 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 pack streaky smoked bacon, cut into slices or 1 pack of smoked pork belly, cut into chunks
• 500g-1000g pork rib or pork shoulder or some other cheap, tough cut of pork
• 3 chorizo cooking sausages/ 1 pack goan sausages/ 1 pack chorizo
• 800g-1.5kg brined bone-in pork leg (rimmat fläsklägg), soaked in water for a few hours, skin removed, cut into a few large pieces
• 3 onion, chopped
• 8 garlic clove, smashed
• Few pinches of chilli flakes
• olive oil, for cooking
• 4 bay leaf
• 4 tbsp white wine vinegar
• To serve: steamed rice, chopped parsley or spring onions and wedges of oranges

Method

1. Heat a large heavy-based dutch oven and add the bacon/ pork belly and fry until crisp. Remove and keep the oil in the pan. In batches sear the brined pork, sausages and pork shoulder/ribs. Season with pepper, but because of the brined pork, do not salt until the very end. 
2. Remove the meat and set aside. Add the onion, garlic and bay leaves to the dutch oven and fry for 8-12 mins or until soft. 
3. Add the meat, bay leaves, white wine vinegar, chilli flakes and half the beans. Cover with just enough water to cover, about 1000ml. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Cover and cook for 2 hrs, or until the meat is tender. If there is too much liquid in the pot take the lid off in the last hr. Add the remaining beans for the last hour. 
4. In the last 15 minutes, remove the meat pieces and shred them into large chunks and remove the bones and bay leaves. Spoon a few table spoons of th
   e beans into a bowl and smash with a fork or pulse in a blender and add back to the stew. 
5. Taste and add salt as needed (I've never needed to add salt) 
6. You can also use a slow cooker (4 hr) starting at the end of step 3.

Update 2023: I have now made this many times, most recently with sausage I picked up in Lisbon, fresh sausage, without rimmat fläsk, just fläsk karre. Also, apple cider vinegar instead of white wine. Made no difference, it was still delicious. 

 

I followed this recipe and we had yummy collard greens on the side with slices of orange.  

Chorizo Apple Mustard Puffs

This recipe is from here. We modified it as follows but if I make this again (and I probably will make this again because it was yummacious), I will probably take the casing off the sausages, but won't separate the meat more than that. I enjoyed the pig in a blanket style of leaving the sausages whole but the skins were difficult to bite through.

Ingredients

Small pat of butter

1 apple, finely diced

8 small raw chorizo sausages

small handful parsley, chopped

400g pack puff pastry (4 plates cut in half)

1 egg, beaten

1tsp-ish Dijon mustard 

Method

1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. 
2. Put the butter and apple in a small pan and cook for 5 mins until the apple has softened, then cool. Then mash until its chunky but small chunks.
3. Mix in finely chopped parsley and a tsp-ish (more is probably better) of dijon mustard.
4. Thaw the puff pastry plates spread out individually until they are soft and pliable, but before they reach room temperature. Cut each one in half.
5. Add a spoon-ish of the apple mix and a sausage into each plate and then pull the plates and seal the edges around the filling.
6. Spray the baking tray down with butter, brush the tops with egg and then bake for 40 minutes. Around 15 minutes in, you should probably pull out the baking tray and remove the excess liquid and then pop them back in.