← Nouns Cooking · British & Irish

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 8 good pork sausages (about 500 g)
• 250 g thick-cut bacon or bacon lardons, cut into 3 cm pieces
• 2 Onion, thickly sliced
• 1 kg potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 2 Carrot, thickly sliced (optional)
• 3 sprigs Thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 900 ml ham or chicken stock
• 1 handful Parsley, chopped
• Black pepper

Method

1. Heat the oven to 160°C (140°C fan, 325°F). Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole over medium-high heat and brown the sausages for 5 min, turning, then cut each one into thirds. Fry the bacon for 3–4 min until lightly golden.
2. Lift out the meat. Layer half the onions in the pot, then half the bacon and sausages, then half the potatoes and carrots. Repeat the layers, tucking in the thyme and bay and grinding over plenty of pepper.
3. Pour in enough hot stock to come just below the top layer of potatoes. Bring to a simmer on the hob, cover tightly and transfer to the oven.
4. Cook for 1 hour, until the potatoes are completely tender and the bottom ones have begun to collapse into the broth. Taste for salt (the bacon adds plenty), scatter over the parsley and serve in bowls with soda bread and butter.

Tips

• Traditionalists skip the browning step and simply simmer everything; browning is not authentic but adds colour and flavour.
• Many sausages contain wheat rusk, so this is not gluten-free unless yours are labelled so.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

The Irish Times The Irish Times IrishCentral