Sausage & Lentil Casserole

Serves 4-6

olive oil spray
800g thick lean sausages or vegetarian sausages
1Tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2tsp ground cumin
1 large red capsicum, cut in large dice
400g can diced tomatoes
400g can brown lentils, drained and rinsed
1/2C salt-reduced chicken or vegetable stock
1 large zucchini, cut in large dice
100g baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped

1. Preheat your oven to 180C, lightly spray a flameproof casserole dish with olive oil spray and place over a medium heat. Separate sausages and prick with a fork, cook in the casserole dish until browned all over. Remove from the pan and cut each into 3 pieces.

2. Drain any fat from the pan and heat oil, add onion, garlic & cumin and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Add capsicum, tomatoes, lentils & stock and bring to the boil.

3. Put the lid on the casserole dish and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until sausages are cooked and sauce has thickened slightly.

4. Add in zucchini and bake uncovered for a further 10 minutes. If serving with rice, cook it now.

5. Take the casserole out of the oven, stir through baby spinach and stand for 5 minutes before serving over rice, if using.

Nutritional Information: (per serve made with lean sausages, 4 or 6 serves)
Energy 2168.8 or 1445.8kJ, Protein 36.3 or 24.2g, Fat (Total) 17.7 or 11.8g (Saturated) 7.6 or 5.0g, Carbohydrate (Total) 46.8 or 31.2g (Sugars) 10.1 or 6.8g, Dietary Fibre 6.8 or 4.5g, Sodium 1309.5 or 873mg. 4.7 or 3.1 serves of vegetables.

Nutritional Information: (per serve made with vegetarian sausages, 4 or 6 serves)
Energy 2152.8 or 1435.2kJ, Protein 44.3 or 29.6g, Fat (Total) 16.1 or 10.7g (Saturated) 2.8 or 1.8g, Carbohydrate (Total) 38.8 or 25.9g (Sugars) 11.9 or 8g, Dietary Fibre 12.0 or 8g, Sodium 1727.5 or 1151.7mg. 4.7 or 3.1 serves of vegetables.

(Adapted from: Recipes+ Magazine, Issue 16 - May/June 2007)

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