African Sausage Stew

For a long time I was trying to think up something a bit more original to do with sausages, giving that there isn’t a huge variety of recipes around for this cheap ingredient. So I came up with a stew that uses sweet potatoes (often part of West African cuisine). Besides sausages forming part of North African cooking, the spices and raisins are also a flavour of this region. Hence, I give you “African Sausage Stew”.

Serves 2

1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil

4 sausages

½ onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

300ml chicken/pork/vegetable stock

1 red chilli, deseeded and sliced

1 green pepper, deseeded and sliced

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1cm cubes

1 tbsp. tomato puree

A handful of raisins

2 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. mixed spice

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. When very hot, fry the sausages until browned. Remove to a plate.

2. Add the onions to the saucepan and gently fry for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and fry for another minute.

3. Add the turmeric, mixed spice, balsamic vinegar and tomato puree. Quickly stir together. Then add the chilli, peppers, raisins, sweet potato and sausages. Cover with enough stock.

4. Bring to the boil and simmer for approximately 10 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked. If the stew is too runny for your preferences, you can add a thickening agent such as corn flour. Then serve with some side vegetables if you like!