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Sausage, Butter Bean And Orzo Casserole

Once again we had forgotten to get anything out of the freezer for dinner so store cupboard throw together it was. I wouldn’t mind so much if we didn’t have a freezer full of nice meat from Marr Grange but this has been the pattern for the last few weeks. Either we forget or Paul doesn’t fancy a big dinner so we end up bitting, batting and raiding the crisp drawer. Oh yes, as anyone who knows me, I can live on crisps, cheese and onion preferably. Back to the day in question. I decided on sausages as they wouldn’t suffer too much from a quick defrost in the microwave and the orzo; a recent discovery for me; was perfect for adding a bit of stodge. Then it was just a case of adding the tomatoes and beans. I used butter beans since Paul likes them but cannellini or mixed beans would do just as well. I have been waiting to try out my bargain £12.95 two person slow cooker since buying it earlier in the week whilst shopping with our daughter Kate at The Company Shop and this seemed the perfect opportunity. In went all the ingredients; except the orzo which I added an hour before the end of the cooking time; and off I trotted to get on with something more interesting. I must remember to add a little more water for the orzo to absorb in future though. I was quite impressed with how tasty it was considering I made it up as I went.

  • 5-6 pork sausages
  • 1 tin butter beans, rinsed
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • ¾ cup orzo
  • 1 beef stock cube (OXO)
  • 1 tbs Henderson’s relish
  1. Place the butter beans, tomatoes, stock cube and Henderson’s in the pot and stir to combine. 
  2. Add the sausages. 
  3. Close the lid and cook on HIGH for 3 hours. 
  4. After 3 hours stir in the orzo, replace the lid and continue cooking for a further hour. 
  5. Serve hot and enjoy.