Meat mains
Sausage, celeriac and barley with sprouts and blue cheese
A seasonal barley recipe using our organic pork and apple sausages and celeriac. Don't be precious with celeriac when peeling; use a good, sharp knife and hack off all the very knobbly, gnarly bits. Any leftover from this recipe can be roasted in chunks, with or without other veg, or added to soups and stews. It can discolour when chopped (though it still tastes as good); rubbing it with a little cut lemon will help prevent this.
Cook's notes
Shredded sprouts are a great way of preparing and cooking them. They fry in minutes and have none of the sulphurous smell and flavour that over-boiled sprouts do.
Ingredients
- oil for frying and roasting, e.g. vegetable or sunflower
- 4 pork and apple sausages
- 2 large or 3 smaller onions
- ⅔ celeriac
- 175g pearl barley
- 500ml chicken stock
- 1 tsp mixed herbs
- 200g Brussels sprouts
- 75g perl las blue cheese
- 1 lemon
- salt and pepper
Method
-
Step 1
Preheat oven to 210°C/Gas Mark 5. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan. Add the sausages and fry, turning them now and then, until browned. Remove from the heat. Peel and cut the onions in half, then each half into 5-6 wedges, through the root to hold them together. Transfer the wedges to a roasting tin.
-
Step 2
Peel and chop two thirds of the celeriac into approx 2cm chunks. Add to the onion. Toss them in just enough oil to coat and season with a little salt and pepper. Add the sausages. Roast the veg and sausages for 30 minutes or so, until the celeriac and onions are tender and starting to colour a little, and the sausages are cooked through. Toss the veg and turn the sausages halfway through, so they roast evenly.
-
Step 3
Meanwhile, heat the stock in a large pan. Rinse the barley in a sieve or colander and add to the stock with the dried mixed herbs. Cook on a low to medium boil for 25-30 minutes. Stir often and add a splash of water to top up the liquid if needed (this will vary depending on your pan); by the end of cooking you want a sloppy, risotto like consistency.
-
Step 4
Meanwhile, wash and peel the outer leaves of the sprouts. Cut them in half lengthways, through the stalk, then thinly shred each half, discarding the little stalk bases. Roughly crumble up the blue cheese. When the barley is ready, mix with the roasted celeriac, onion, sausages and blue cheese.
-
Step 5
Season to taste with salt and pepper (you won't need much salt as the cheese is quite salty). Add a little squeeze of lemon juice to sharpen the dish. Wash out the frying pan. Add and heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the sprouts and briskly stir-fry for 2-3 minutes to wilt them. Stir some into the barley and save some for garnishing. Wash out the frying pan. Add and heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the sprouts and briskly stir-fry for 2-3 minutes to wilt them.
-
Step 6
Stir some into the barley and save some for garnishing. Divide the barley and sausages between 2 serving bowls or plates and top with the remaining fried sprouts.