This warming casserole is great for Halloween

Charlotte Seddon, who viewers saw reach the semifinals of this year’s MasterChef, says the dish serves four people and will take about an hour and fifteen minutes to prepare.

She said: “Halloween 2016 was our first party in our new home. We had bought the house nearly two years earlier and it was completely derelict, it had taken us this long to get the house ‘liveable’ which meant being watertight with a bathroom, bedroom and kitchen, however at this point the house was still far from finished. It still had that spooky run-down feel which felt perfect for a Halloween party and it didn’t take much additional decoration to be the perfect setting.”

She added: “As always for our parties I wanted the food to be on point and given the setting and theme I made a number of casseroles and stews that people could help themselves to throughout the night. Although I didn’t expect it to be, this sausage and pumpkin casserole was the star of the show with many people after asking for the recipe. This dish always takes me back to that party and what a great time it was to celebrate with friends after working on the house for so long. Whilst we cant celebrate with friends this year this casserole will make a great addition to that Halloween celebration at home, perfect to eat whilst watching a spooky film with the family.

“Every year I grow my own pumpkins as they are one of my more ‘reliable’ vegetables in the garden. If you have the space to grown them, I really recommend it they taste much better than those you get in a supermarket and it’s great to watch them grow!”

Ingredients:

• 8 sausages (try and get some really good ones from a butcher)

• 4 large shallots sliced

• 3 crushed garlic cloves

• 2 sprigs sage finely chopped

• 500g pumpkin chopped into large chunks (skin and seeds removed)

• 1tbsp balsamic vinegar

• 1 tsp red currant jelly (or caster sugar)

• 1 bay leaf

• Worcestershire sauce

• 400g chopped tomatoes

• 400g cannellini beans (drained)

• 300ml chicken stock

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees

2. Heat up a large casserole dish over a medium to high heat and add a knob of butter

3. Add the sausages turning them regularly to brown all over

4. Once they are brown remove them from the pan and put them on a plate

5. Add another knob of butter and add the shallots and cook for around 3-4 minutes until translucent and soft

6. Add the sage and garlic and stir well and cook for around 3 minutes

7. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook on a high heat until most of it has evaporated

8. Return the sausages to the pan and add the bay leaf, red currant jelly, tomatoes, cannellini beans and chicken stock, season with salt and pepper and Worcestershire sauce (I use about a tablespoon)

9. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and put into the oven for 30 minutes

10. Take the casserole out, add the pumpkin and cook for another 20 minutes until the pumpkin is tender

11. Serve with buttery mashed potato and a side of greens