* Sausage Hotpot

It's bitterly cold here again, so I'm still turning to warming, hearty meals rather than salads. Neil appreciates it when he gets home from work, and I'm still feeling guilty about the fact that I'm now only working weekends... so I'm soothing my hubby with his favourite foods and salving my conscience.

Yes. I do have one. I keep it in a box with a very tight fitting lid and only let it out when there's a blue moon.

No. I have not suddenly turned into a sharing, caring, loving, housewifey type - who stands at the door at night waiting for hubby to get home, with his slippers in one hand and his pipe in the other.

I am, in fact, manipulating my man into wanting me to stay home. He has mentioned in the past how much he likes to come home in the Winter to the lights shining through the windows, my music blaring out of every crevice and his dinner cooking on the stove.

If he'd ever actually demanded this... he'd be dead.

Instead, he uncomplainingly gets up and goes to work five or six days a week, at an ungodly hour and returns home when most people are putting their kids to bed for the night. Sometimes even later than that. He never says a word when presented with fried egg sandwiches for his dinner, after he's been slogging his guts out in the cold all day... and when I lose the plot, and my temper flares, he walks around the kitchen with his t-shirt pulled up over the top of his head, waving his arms in the air and pretending I've just bitten his head off.

What's not to love?

I'll tell you.

The man can sulk for Great Britain.

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Serves 3 if served with extra veg, 2 if eaten on it's own.

Prep time - 30 minutes
Cooking time total - 1hr 25minutes

You will need
A flame proof casserole dish with lid

Ingredients
500g potatoes - peeled weight
3 reduced fat sausages
5 sprays fry light or 1 tbsp olive oil
2 large carrots - peeled and chopped into chunks
3 sticks celery - cut into chunks
1 onion - sliced thickly
100g mushrooms - chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp plain flour
1 pt chicken stock - from a cube is fine
1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp of  gravy browning (optional)
Salt and pepper for seasoning

Method

Parboil the potatoes, allow to cool and cut into slices about 1 cm thick. Brown the sausages, allow to cool then chop into 4 or 5 pieces each.

Preheat oven to 180c/160cfan/350f/gas 4.

Place the flame proof casserole over a medium heat and spray with fry light (or add oil). Add carrots, celery and onion and cook very gently until beginning to soften - about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and dried thyme cook for a further minute. Sprinkle over the flour and stir it through the veg, cooking for about 30 seconds.

Slowly stir in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the Worcestershire sauce and gravy browning (if using) and chopped, browned sausages. Season with salt and pepper, stir then remove from the heat.

Place the thickly sliced potatoes over the top of the casserole. They should be thick enough that they don't sink into the cooking liquid. Layer them up if your casserole is deep rather than wide, it makes no difference.

Place the lid on top and cook in the oven for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and drizzle over 1 tbsp of melted Utterly Butterly, replace in oven with lid OFF for a further 15 minutes. Serve with green veg of your choice.

EAT.

8 propoints per serving if using fry light, 10 if using olive oil - based on 3 servings.