Tuscan-Style Sausages with Rosemary Potatoes and Roasted Onions

Serves - 4

You’ll need

• 8 good-quality pork sausages
• 1kg Maris Piper or King Edward potatoes, peeled and cut into chunky pieces
• 3 large red onions, cut into thick wedges
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
• 150ml dry white wine or chicken stock
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed, optional but very good
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. Get the potatoes started

Preheat the oven to 220°C fan.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and parboil the potatoes for 8–10 minutes, until the edges are just starting to soften. Drain well, then give them a good shake in the colander to rough up the outsides a little. That, as ever, is where the crispness begins.

Tip them into a large roasting tray with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, most of the rosemary, the crushed garlic, plenty of salt, and black pepper. Toss well.

Roast for 20 minutes.

2. Add the onions and sausages

After the potatoes have had their head start, add the onion wedges to the tray with the remaining olive oil, the fennel seeds if using, and a little more seasoning. Toss everything together.

Nestle the sausages into the tray among the potatoes and onions. Pour the white wine or stock around the edges so there is a little moisture in the pan without drenching everything.

3. Roast properly

Return the tray to the oven and roast for another 35–45 minutes, turning the potatoes and onions once or twice during cooking, until the sausages are deeply golden and cooked through, the potatoes are crisp, and the onions are soft and caramelised at the edges.

Scatter over the remaining rosemary for the last 5 minutes if you want the herb note to stay especially lively.

4. Serve

Spoon everything onto a large platter or straight onto plates, making sure plenty of the onions and roasting juices come along for the ride.

A couple of helpful notes

- A spoonful of wholegrain mustard alongside would not be remotely unwelcome.
- If your sausages are particularly large, give them a quick turn halfway through so they colour evenly.
- Do not use timid sausages here. This dish depends on them bringing some character to the table.