Sausage and leek casserole with parsley dumplings

by Paul Warburton on 07 January 2010  |  8 comments
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To kick off the new Frugal Recipes blog, check out this amazing recipe for sausage and leek casserole with parsley dumplings - for £1.47 per person!

Welcome to our new Frugal Recipe blog! If you're registered on lovemoney.com, you can follow this blog and find new posts as soon as they are published, via your personal homepage. Never miss a frugal recipe again - register now.

Sausage and leek casserole with parsley dumplings (Serves 4)

It's snowing outside as I type this so I've made a last minute recipe change to reflect the current climate - this simple dish can be thrown together really quickly when you get back from work and is ready in 2 hours. This really is a recipe that epitomises winter and the dumplings give it that extra stay indoors lift.   

Leeks are also well in season at the moment so let's take advantage of this classic vegetable and embrace the winter!

Ingredients

• 8 butchers made sausages (from any good local butchers around £3.30)
• 500g of leeks (84p)
• 1 large red onion (22p)
• 600g of potatoes (62p)
• 300g of carrots (24p)
• 35g of fresh parsley (68p)

The cupboard staples...

Olive oil, salt, black pepper, bay leaves (2), chicken stock cubes (2), garlic (2 cloves), plain flour, baking powder and a little milk.    

Total cost

If you already have the cupboard staples, then according to mysupermarket.co.uk, this trolley was cheapest at Tesco (and your local butchers), where it came to £5.90 - that's £1.47 per head!

Instructions

• Pre-heat the oven to 170C.
• It's important to brown the sausages first in a large frying pan to get some flavour going (use a little olive oil in the pan to get them going). Once the sausages are browned all over place in a casserole dish.
• Now to prep the vegetables; finely slice the onions, finely chop the garlic and cut the potatoes, carrots and leeks into roughly the same larger cuts. I would cut to 1 inch in length pieces as we don't want them to breakdown too much in the stew.
• Add all the vegetables to the same frying pan and get a little colour on them. Again, once browned add to the casserole dish - deglaze the pan with a little stock (or white wine if you have) and also add to the casserole dish.
• Season the mixture well with salt and pepper and add two bay leaves - then pour over 750ml of hot chicken stock and place in the oven with a lid on for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
• We can now make the parsley dumplings. Grab a large bowl and sift in 9oz of plain flour then add 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt and the finely chopped parsley. Make a well in the centre of the dry mix and gradually add some milk until the mixture forms into a dough consistency. This mixture will make around 14 to 16 teaspoon sized dumplings - roll out the dumplings in your hands with a little flour to avoid sticking.
• After the casserole has been in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, take out and turn the oven up to 200C. Add the dumplings, put back in the oven and cook for a further 30 minutes with the lid on. After 30 minutes remove the lid, turn the oven up to 220C and cook for 10 to 15 minutes so you get some colour on the dumplings that have risen to the top.
• Happy eating!

A bit about the Frugal Recipes chef, Paul Warburton

Paul Warburton, a lovemoney.com staff member, had a hectic career in the world of hot kitchens and screaming chefs before joining the lovemoney.com products development team.

During these years, under the tutorage of some great chefs, he honed his skills in cooking for numbers within a tight cost and portion-controlled environment.

Now he's planning to regularly offer his help to all budding chefs in the lovemoney.com community, so you can enjoy his original, low-cost recipes with your family and friends every Friday for free!

What lovemoney.com readers have said about Paul's other recipes

"We enjoyed this recipe very much: easy to make and even easier to eat!" varneyrob

"I made this recipe and it was absolutely delicious! Seriously good! Five of us feasted on it, and feasted well..." Ibeshy

"I made this recipe on Saturday night, and my 13 year-old son promptly requested it again for the following night!" Malcolm Wheatley

"This is a cracking risotto recipe. Just had it for lunch & it's a winner. More recipes please. Thanks." SavvyLass

"Another delicious offering from Paul. Thank you - keep 'em coming!" Palefire

Please add your own comments using the comments box below!

If you like this recipe, why not also try Paul's other Frugal Recipes: Massaman curry | Roasted pheasant | Portobello mushroom, port and stilton wellington | Smoked mackerel pate on crostini and red onion confit |Rolled breast of lamb with garlic mash and Savoy cabbage | Lemon & rosemary chicken thighs |  Thai Pollock curry with egg noodles | Chunky pea and ham soup| Spaghetti alla carbonara | Pork stroganoff | Green chilli meat balls, sunflower seed couscous salad and mint yoghurt |  Tagliatelle with air dried cured ham and minted peas | Beef, thyme and mushroom loaf with potato dauphinoise | Mixed bean and coriander green curry with fragrant rice | Egg Florentine with smoked cheddar and rocket salad | Beef, mushroom and thyme pie | Spicy tuna, bean and coriander lasagne |  Beef koftas with a feta, spinach and fresh mint salad | Chorizo and pea risotto | Sausage and rosemary hotpot | Beef & thyme (Lacashire) hotpot

Remember, if you're registered on lovemoney.com, you can follow this blog and find new posts as soon as they are published, via your personal homepage. Never miss a frugal recipe again - register now.