‘Nuts and Bolts’ (Sausage & Potato Traybake)

We’re doing our best to embrace simple here. Although farm life is often hectic, and there are many mouths to feed, we’ve discovered it’s often the simple meals that are enjoyed the most.

So it’s no surprise that this ‘recipe’ is on high-rotation. It oozes simplicity. Simple ingredients. Simple prep. Simple cleanup. All the while delivering an amazing flavour!

For most men, any meal that has meat in it generally has the big tick of approval. Generally they’re not fussy (well they aren’t in our household!) – as long as it’s red, the announcement of dinner is met with an enthusiastic response. And if you manage to squeeze potatoes into the same dish, the meal is pretty much a guaranteed winner!

Enter ‘Nuts and Bolts’ …. aptly named by the boys in our household …. which has all the fixings to have the boys (both big and small) in your family declaring you as the best cook!

The secret here is two-fold: both the simple ingredients and the simple cooking method. With sausages and potatoes both falling into the comfort food category, it’s the method of baking them that takes the ingredients to a whole new level and gives the dish a full-bodied flavour and a crisped texture.

We’d love to hear what your family thinks. And if you’ve got any tweaks, please share them below!

5-ingredient ‘Nuts and Bolts’

• 500g sausages, sliced into 1″ pieces
• 500g potatoes, scrubbed and diced into 2cm pieces
• 2 – 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 – 3 tbsp Lancashire Relish, Worcestershire sauce or coconut aminos
• 1 – 3 tsp sea salt + pepper to taste
• several sprigs of rosemary (optional)
• 2 onions, peeled, halved and cut into thick wedges (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C for at least 10 minutes.
2. Assemble. Place the sausages and potatoes in a large (40 x 30cm) baking dish. Note: a large dish allows a single layer of ingredients which speeds up the cooking time, and results in crispier potatoes.
3. Season generously with oil and Lancashire Relish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (use more than you think). Tuck rosemary sprigs underneath the sausages and potatoes.
4. Bake for 30 minutes. Carefully stir ingredients.
5. Add onions. Distribute onions evenly in the baking dish, ensuring the onion wedges stay together if possible. Drizzle each wedge with a little olive oil.
6. Cook again. Reduce oven temperature to 200°C and continue baking for a further 20 -30 minutes or until potato is tender and sausage is cooked.
7. Serve. Remove rosemary sprigs and serve with a garden salad.

Serves: 4 -6 (with planned left-overs!)

Left-over potential:

• Heated through in a tortilla with grated cheese and relish.
• Scrambled with an egg on toast for breakfast.
• Warmed and placed on a bed of spinach leaves.