Merguez and Navy Bean Stew

The colder, crisper, November weather calls for more warming, wholesome dishes.



Ingredients
1 cup navy beans, soaked in enough water to cover them, in the fridge, overnight
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1 large shallot, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
4 rashers of bacon, diced
2 merguez sausages, sliced into small rounds
half a vegetable stock cube
olive oil
Fresh sage

Method
-Bring beans to the boil and simmer for an hour
-On the stovetop, in a large ovenproof pan, brown the bacon and sausages.
-Add the onions and garlic, and cook in the meat fat until soft.
-Add the beans, stock cube and diced potato.
-Cook in a preheated oven at 350F with a lid on for 30 mins.
-Remove the lid, stir, and cook for a further 30 minutes.
-At each stage, appraise the amount of liquid, if at anytime you think the mix is too dry, add a cup or so of water.
-Season with Salt & Pepper at the end of the process.
-Flash fry sage leaves in a little olive oil to garnish.
-Serves 2 to 3 people

The fat from the bacon and lamb sausage makes this an incredibly rich and flavoursome dish. The merguez also add a warming spicy kick to this simple stew.

Merguez and Navy Bean Stew