Sausages and beans in tomato sauce

If appetites allow, you can save half of this bean mix to serve as patties or soup another day, see below. This recipe forms part of the 11 March meal planner created in partnership with New World.

Ingredients

1	Onion, chopped
¼ cup	Olive oil, plus 1 Tbsp
2	Garlic cloves, finely sliced
¾ tsp	Chilli flakes
1 cup	Sage leaves
2 cans	diced tomatoes, (800g in total) (Main)
1 Tbsp	Tomato paste
½ tsp	Salt
1 Tbsp	Butter
6	Sausages, well flavoured (Main)
2 cans	Cannellini beans, (800g in total), drained and rinsed (Main)

Directions

1. Cook onion in ¼ cup olive oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium to low heat for 10 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, chilli and some of the sage leaves (about 2 Tbsp, chopped) and cook for a couple more minutes. You don't want anything to brown at this stage.
2. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and a few grinds of black pepper and simmer for 40-50 minutes until the sauce is thick, stirring occasionally.
3. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter in a frying pan. Fry the remaining sage leaves until crisp, remove with a slotted spoon to kitchen paper and leave to drain. Add the sausages to the pan and fry until brown.
4. Slice the sausages in to large chunks and add to the tomato sauce with the beans. Simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Sprinkle with fried sage leaves and serve with crusty bread and a green salad.

SECOND TIME AROUND

Keep half the bean mix (without the sausages) to make patties to serve in buns or with salad another night, here's how:

• Mash the bean mix and stir in 1 grated courgette, 1 grated carrot, 1 beaten egg and ½ cup flour.
• Season with salt and pepper if required. Fry large spoonfuls of the mix in oil until golden and crispy on both sides.
• The bean mix also makes a deliciously creamy soup, heated with 4-5 cups vegetable stock and blended.