Sausage, Apple & Cider Casserole
I actually made this dish from scratch because I had a leftover can of Strongbow in the fridge and I couldnt find a decent sausage & cider casserole on the internet. Its a nice warm dish perfect for during the Autumn months, even though I actually made it at the start of summer. You can serve it with what you like, but Id suggest mash.
I actually made this dish from scratch because I had a leftover can of Strongbow in the fridge and I couldnt find a decent sausage & cider casserole on the internet. Its a nice warm dish perfect for during the Autumn months, even though I actually made it at the start of summer. You can serve it with what you like, but Id suggest mash.
- 750 grams sausages (12 – 15 sausages) good quality
- 2 slices bacon (up to 3 slices), chopped
- 1 desert apple (cut into wedges, skin kept on)
- 2/3 carrots (peeled and chopped)
- 1 large onion (finely chopped)
- oil (for frying)
- 500 milliliters apple cider (1 can), strongbow/magners
- 500 milliliters chicken stock.
- Carbohydrate 23.8709762822681 g
- Cholesterol 118.456716942847 mg
- Fat 46.223453554278 g
- Fiber 1.82100534642749 g
- Protein 26.9255182144065 g
- Saturated Fat 15.2260379623492 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (435g)
- Sodium 1194.07294690565 mg
- Sugar 22.0499709358406 g
- Trans Fat 4.28961074332093 g
- Calories 624 calories
Step-by-step
- Firstly, start pre-heating the oven at Gas Mark 5/190°C/375°F.
- heat a large saucepan and add a drizzle of oil.
- One the saucepan is hot, add the chopped onions and fry till they go clear/browning.
- Meanwhile, heat up a frying pan adding the sausages to be cooked golden brown on all sides. Keep checking throughout to make sure the sausages don’t burn.
- Add the chopped bacon with the onions and fry till slightly crispy (cooked). (add more oil if needed)
- Throw in the apple wedges and carrots to be cooked slightly.
- By now the sausages should be golden so add them to the saucepan.
- Pour the cider and chicken stock into the saucepan and allow to boil.
- Once boiled, place a lid on the saucepan and place the saucepan in the oven. Cook for an hour and a half.
- Once the casserole has been cooked in the oven, you can choice to immediately serve or let it cool to be reheated at a later time.
- To reduce the gravy, to make it thicker, place the saucepan back on the hob and remove the lid. Turn the hob into a high temperature and leave so the gravy can thicken. Keep an eye on it, as without due care, the casserole can reduce too far resulting in not enough gravy.
Hard apple cider forms the structural backbone of this braise, supplying both acidity and fermentable sugars that break down connective tissues in pork sausages over a long cooking window. Braising pork in fruit juice requires careful attention to reduction, as unfermented sugars can easily burn if boiled too aggressively on the stovetop.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5) before browning meats to ensure immediate thermal transfer when the Dutch oven goes inside.
- Brown the sausages in a separate skillet for 8 to 10 minutes prior to braising; this renders excess animal fat and develops deep Maillard compounds that raw boiling cannot achieve.
- Keep the apple skins intact on the desert apple wedges so the pectin holds the fruit shape together during the 90-minute bake.
- Simmer the final liquid on high heat with the lid removed if the gravy is too thin, monitoring constantly to prevent scorching the bottom starches.
- Store leftovers in a sealed glass container for up to three days at 4°C, or freeze for two months without a notable loss in texture.
Reheating requires gentle stove heat with an added splash of chicken stock to reconstitute the gelatinized sauce. Cooling the casserole uncovered for 30 minutes before refrigeration prevents dangerous temperature zones inside domestic coolers.
