Upgrade your classic sausage casserole with vibrant Mediterranean flavours of smoky chorizo, artichokes, creamy cannellini beans and sweet cherry tomatoes! An easy and kid friendly recipe that practically cooks itself!
Are you a fan of Mediterranean flavours? Take a look at our Spanish Style Chicken and Potatoes. Another one pan meal that is perfect for midweek dinners.
Quick dinner ideas for weeknights are what we are all after, right? This sausage casserole is one of my favourite recipes! It relies on the most regular ingredients that are found in most homes like sausages, canned tomatoes and beans.
Then it surprises and excites us with slightly more exotic things like smoky chorizo and canned artichokes. Both are still easily accessible and affordable since you will need only a tiny amount. But that small amount immediately bumps the flavour to the next level.
Are you interested?
How to make it
This casserole is a snap to make and requires very little effort.
- Slightly brown the sausages until golden but do not cook all the way through to prevent drying out in the oven. Remove to a plate until later.
- Make the sauce by sautéing sliced onions and red peppers, garlic and thyme, then add chorizo slices or little bits of chorizo (your choice), let it cook briefly only until you see the chorizo releasing the beautiful red colour of paprika into the vegetables.
- Immediately hit them with canned tomatoes. I used one can of cherry tomatoes and one can of passata/crushed tomatoes in the US. You can use regular chopped tomatoes here if you wish. Then flavour the sauce with more smoky paprika and thyme.
- Add the cannellini beans, artichokes and return the sausages to the pan. Cook in the oven uncovered at 200C/400F for 20 minutes. The sprinkle with Parmesan breadcrumbs or Parmesan cheese and broil for 3 minutes until golden.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Feel free to substitute artichokes with olives.
- I used cannellini beans but any type of beans will work here.
- Bacon could also be used in place of chorizo. It will lose some of the dynamic flavours that come built into chorizo, but still fantastic!
- Canned cherry tomatoes could be substituted with canned chopped tomatoes.
- Instead of breadcrumbs a light sprinkling of cheese will be delicious.
Serving Suggestions
Since this sausage bake contains both sausages and beans, you can simply add good crusty bread and a salad and have yourself a fabulous meal.
This sausage casserole is also saucy and you know what that means. It lends itself beautifully to be poured over…
- rice
- couscous
Both are extremely easy to make but couscous definitely wins when it comes to the ease and speed of preparation.
Storage and Leftovers
This casserole does extremely well when frozen. It reheats well and doesn’t lose in the quality department one bit. You can keep it for up to three months, and allow to defrost completely before reheating.
It will also store in the fridge for 4-5 days in an airtight container or under plastic wrap.
More hearty casserole recipes
- Chicken Casserole
- Sausage Pasta Bake
- Healthy Tuna Noodles Casserole
- Overnight Breakfast Casserole with Sausage, Chorizo and Eggs
- Tater Tot Casserole
Saucy Sausage Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 8 Pork sausages such as Cumberland or your favourite
- 1 onion
- 1 red or yellow pepper
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 5-8 slices cured chorizo
- 400g/14oz canned cherry tomatoes
- 400g/14oz passata/crushed tomatoes
- salt to taste
- 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
- 400g/14oz canned artichokes, packed in water or frozen and defrosted
- 400g/14oz canned cannellini beans, drained
- 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
- 1 sprig thyme, leaves only
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F
- Brown sausages in 1 tbsp of olive oil until golden on all sides but not cooked all the way through. Remove to a separate plate.
- To the same pan add sliced onions, red or yellow peppers and saute over medium heat for 5 minutes, then add minced garlic and sliced chorizo, cook for 30 seconds longer until chorizo releases its red paprika colour into the pan. Add both cans of tomatoes, paprika and thyme, salt to taste and bring to a boil.
- Lower the heat and add halved artichokes, cannellini beans and return the sausages back to the pan. Bake in the preheated oven uncovered for 20-25 minutes until bubbly and the sauce has reduced in volume by a third.
- While the casserole is in the oven mix the breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese and thyme leaves together in a small bowl. After 20 minutes take the casserole out of the oven and sprinkle with the Parmesan breadcrumbs, broil/grill for 3 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden.
