Fennel sausages braised with lemony potatoes and bay leaves

After watching Rick Stein prepare this dish I decided to give it a try.  I used Debbie & Andrews, gluten free, wheat free, dairy free sausages. And I forgot the parsley. In spite of the parsley not being present the dish turned out beyond perfect.  I wish I could have added smell and taste to this post. 

Days later Graham and Pete are still talking about how delicious it was. If you give it a try please leave a comment on my blog, I would love to hear from you. Enjoy

Preparation time less than 39m minutes
cooking time 30 min - 1 hour
Serves 4

Ingredients

450g/1lb luganega sausages (available from specialist Italian or Continental grocers), or other nice meaty pork chipolatas

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced

garlic cloves, thinly sliced

750g/1½lb small waxy potatoes, peeled and each cut into quarters

½lemon, pared zest and juice only

4 fresh bay leaves

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

120ml/4fl oz water

Method

1.      Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Twist the sausages into 7.5cm/3in lengths and separate them into individual sausages.

2.      Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a 26cm/10in shallow flameproof casserole dish. Add the sausages and fry until nicely browned all over. Lift them onto a plate and set aside.

3.      Add the onion, garlic and another tablespoon of oil to the casserole dish and fry until soft and lightly golden. Stir in the potatoes, browned sausages, lemon zest and juice, bay leaves, half the chopped parsley, ½ teaspoon salt and ten turns of the black pepper mill.

4.      Pour over the rest of the oil along with the water, cover tightly with the lid and bake for 30-40 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

5.      Remove the lemon zest and sprinkle with the rest of the parsley before serving