Nigel Slater’s kitchen diary: broccoli, beans and sausage stew

The colder the weather gets, the more I enjoy being in the kitchen. Watching the slow progress of onions softening sweetly with thyme and olive oil. The comfort of knowing there’s a baked potato in the oven, its skin crisping, glistening with salt. Perhaps most of all, witnessing the steam that rises from meat and aromatics on the hob, half soup, half stew, a hearty dinner to warm the soul.

It is time for a supper that calms and cossets, a dish of mild and soothing flavours, its depth coming from the sweetness of slow-cooked onions, woody herbs and caramelised meat juices. In this case, a handful of plump, coarse-textured sausages from the butcher, left to cook until they leave a layer of sticky, Marmite-like sediment in the pan. Pour in a glass of sherry (or red wine or white vermouth or marsala), then stir to give you a deep, savoury essence to work with.

I will often add greens of some sort to this sort of recipe. Broccoli or shreds of crinkly cabbage will cook in the simmering liquor of the soup within a minute or two and provide a contrast to the soporific sauce on your plate. Spinach works, too, especially the large, sharply pointed leaves. (The round ended, baby leaves are better for the salad bowl.) The flavours are mild and homely. You can perk things up a bit by introducing a note of piquancy in the form of pickled cabbage or sauerkraut – always a good thing with any non-spicy, stew-type dish.

Scarf ’n’ gloves weather demands something to warm us, a generous helping of potatoes or dumplings or, in this case, beans. Cannellini, haricot or big fat butter beans would be my choice – sausage and beans works in pretty much any form. If meat isn’t your bag, use a vegetarian sausage in place of the coarse meat variety I suggest and your favourite veggie stock.

The colder days bring the bottles out of the larder (I don’t do dry January). By which I mean the marsala or dry sherry with which I deglaze roasting tins and sauté pans, and the red wine I sometimes include in classic onion soups that will be topped with cheese, or casseroles of lentils and sweet potato. Once the onions, garlic and herbs have been browned, then in goes a glass of something with which to dissolve the sticky, tasty goo from the pan. Left to bubble before pouring in the stock, it forms the soul of the dish. To such recipes I also stir in a last-minute splash of balsamic vinegar. It adds depth rather than sweetness and marries well with whatever greens you have chosen to include.

There’s quite a bit of rhubarb about. Both the early “forced” variety from Yorkshire, with its long, pale stems and delicate flavours, and the more robust stalks, mostly from Holland, notable for their deep ruby colour. Both are good to bake – the fine stems from Yorkshire cook more quickly and are a rare and special winter treat, the ruby juice being a particularly cheering sight. Bake them with citrus or apple juice and the merest sprinkling of sugar, then add a note of spice with a scattering of gingerbread crumbs or madeira cake.

Broccoli, beans and sausage

Serves 4. Ready in just over 1 hour.

Poised between a soup and stew, a supper in various shades of brown, this is one of those recipes that I bring out on exceptionally cold or wet winter days. Introduce a little more stock as it simmers if you think it needs it. It might be worth offering spoons as well as knives and forks. If you are serving it as a main course soup, then I suggest you cut the sausages into spoon-sized lengths to make it easier to eat. This a good-natured dish that will reheat successfully, should you wish to make it in advance.

If you plan to do that, then I suggest you add the broccoli as you heat it up. And don’t feel the need to stick to broccoli. Shredded dark green cabbage works well, as do brussels sprouts, in which case I recommend lightly cooking them in a little boiling water first as they take slightly longer to cook than the more leafy greens. The depth of flavour will depend on including the caramelised sausage juices from the pan and having a good, deeply aromatic stock. Give the dish time to simmer, and for the bay, garlic and thyme to do their thing.

olive oil 3 tbsp
sausages 650g
onions 2, medium
thyme 8 bushy sprigs
bay leaves a few
garlic 4 cloves
sherry 125ml
chicken stock 800ml
cannellini beans 800g, jarred or tinned (or haricot beans)
broccoli 1 large head, about 500g

In a deep saucepan, warm the oil, then brown the sausages. Take your time over this. While they brown, peel and roughly chop the onions. When the sausages are nicely burnished, remove from the pan and set aside.

Using the juices in the pan, cook the onions over a low to moderate heat for about 15-20 minutes until they have started to soften. They will just start to take on a little colour. Remove the leaves from most of the thyme sprigs and chop them. Stir them, along with the bay leaves, into the softening onions.

Peel and crush the garlic, then add to the onions with a generous seasoning of salt and black pepper. Pour in the sherry and turn the heat up. Let the sherry almost evaporate, then pour in the chicken stock.

Drain the cannellini beans, stir into the onions and bring to the boil. Return the sausages and any juices that accompany them to the pan, lower the heat and let the mixture cook for a good 25 minutes.

Trim the broccoli and break into large florets. Add them to the sausage mixture and let them cook for a couple of minutes. Once they are bright green, they are ready. (I like a little crunch with my soft onions and beans.) Serve the soup-stew in shallow bowls.