Imagine: the smiling home chef, wearing floral oven mitts bought for a song, serving a steaming tray bake straight from oven to table, where eager diners serve themselves until they’re stuffed full. I LOVE this concept. Simple, cost-effective, minimum effort. Terrific when there’s an extra mouth to be fed. This is not a fancy dish, but a filling one.
On top of that, I like the cheat with this particular bake – a quality store-bought spicy salsa verde. Imagine now, the eager diners spooning the salse verde over their own plated dishes, and eating, before then clearing up and doing the dishes, while the home chef sits, and smiles beatifically on. That’s the dream, at least.
I used pork chipolatas (which in this case happened to be gluten free), but you could use any type of chipolata, or thinner-style sausage, because they take the same amount of cooking time. You can keep it simple to just white potato and onion, or as you can see here, load the sausage tray bake up with all the vegetable colour-groups.
Homer: What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal.
Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.
-The Simpsons
Pork Chipolata Sausage Tray Bake with Salsa
Ingredients
- 510 g pork or beef chipolatas (approx 18 chipolatas depending on size). You can buy gluten-free if required.
- 1 kg baby potatoes, skin on, halved. Can be prepared earlier and left in water to draw out a little starch
- ½ sweet potato, chopped larger than the baby potatoes
- 2 red onions, sliced into wedges
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 bunch asparagus, halved
- 60 g rocket
- 250 g truss cherry tomatoes – you can use more
- olive oil
- salt, pepper, herbs such as parsley or thyme
- quality store-bought spicy salsa verde, or other condiment such as tomato relish – many are gluten free
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220℃/428℉.
- Add potato and sweet potato to baking tray lined with baking paper. Sprinkle liberally with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 40 minutes, turning occasionally.
- At the 40 minute mark, add onion and garlic, spreading around the potatoes. Add sausages and asparagus, keeping sausages to the top, and put the cherry truss tomatoes in. Sprinkle again with olive oil. Bake for 20-25 minutes until sausages start to brown. If they are a little pale, don't worry, they're still cooked within that time frame.
- Spoon through rocket and herbs and season. Serve direct from baking tray to table with salsa verde on the side.
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