Somehow I completely failed to spot that this week is National Sausage Week here in the UK. Now if anyone should be celebrating the humble sausage, it clearly should be Bangers & Mash. The amount we consume in our house contributes significantly to supporting the British sausage industry, I’m sure.
Thankfully, I had this very tasty sausage dish waiting in the wings to appear on the blog – a perfect winter warmer for all the family on these darker, colder days.
So bumped up the running order a little, I bring you the ‘Star Wars’ sausage stew, a recipe my children (and us grown ups too) adore, which I discovered in my old Blue Peter Book of Gorgeous Grub, circa 1980. The topping of crushed up plain crisps and grated cheese takes me back to my childhood when crisps seemed to appear in hot dishes all the time.
As a child I was a committed fan of the BBC children’s programme Blue Peter, winning a total of four badges over the years in various competitions. I was forever pestering my mum for old boxes, loo roll holders and sticky backed plastic so that I could make the latest Blue Peter creation.
But for some reason I never tried to recreate any of their recipes. It was my dad who recently dug out this cookbook, which, to be totally honest, I can’t remember having as a child as I wasn’t really all that interested in food back then. Oh how things change! So I’m rather enjoying working my way through all the recipes that were submitted by Blue Peter viewers, answering the call from presenters Simon Groom, Chris Wenner and Tina Heath.
According to eight-year-old Elspeth Bruford from Edinburgh who sent in this recipe…
We called it this because it was invented when we wanted a hot meal waiting for us when we came home from seeing the film ‘Star Wars’.
I wonder where Elspeth is now and whether she still makes her Star Wars sausage stew?
Star Wars sausage stew
Serves 4 to 5
1 tbsp vegetable oil
450g sausages (Elspeth cut hers into slices; I left mine whole)
2 onions, chopped
175g bacon, chopped
1 small tin baked beans
1 small tin sweetcorn (I used frozen)
1 large tin chopped tomatoes
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
2 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 packet of plain crisps, crushed
50g Cheddar cheese, grated
Preheat the oven to 150ºC / gas mark 2.
Heat the oil in a large casserole and brown the sausages, then remove to one side. Add the onion and bacon to the casserole and gently brown. Throw the sausages back in, as well as the beans, sweetcorn and tomatoes. Add the bay leaf, season well with salt and pepper and give it all a good mix.
Top with the sliced potatoes and season again. Cover with a lid or foil and cook in the oven for around two and a half hours.
Remove the lid or foil and turn up the heat to 190ºC / gas mark 5 and cook for another half an hour to brown the potatoes.
Finally top with the crushed crisps and cheese and return to the oven until the cheese has melted. Serve immediately.
Bangers & Mash 
Ha, ha love this. It’s a real 80’s recipe like the sort of thing I used to have as a kid. I’m surprised it doesn’t contain a tin of soup to boot. Bet it tastes great though. It reminds me of something my mum used to cook called Cowboy Casserole. Basically baked beans, tinned tomatoes, chipolatas, onion and a dash of dried mixed herbs cooked in the slow cooker for hours and served with crusty French bread. It was a childhood favourite.
I love the sound of Cowboy Casserole too! And yes Campbell’s condensed soups used to feature in so many recipes, although I think I remember those more from my days in Bristol as a student 😉
I was a student in Bristol too. Great city. Happy days 🙂
Really?! When did you study? I was there 1993 to 1996 – did Drama & English and loved it there.
A little bit later than you – 1998 to 2001. I studied Zoology. I chose the uni because I loved the old buildings so much. Not really the best reason to pick a university but it didn’t do me any harm 🙂
Just missed each other! Although I lived in Bristol until 2005 so I probably passed you walking around Clifton or Redland but never knew it! 😉
Expect so. I was lucky enough to live in Clifton. Behind Sainsbury’s!
I lived near Sainsbury’s too for a couple of years! Above the launderette on Alma Road.
Love it. This would seriously appeal to my friends who are fanatics about Star Wars! Including my son. 🙂
Oh so excited that someone else had that book. It’s been with me since childhood and still sits in my recipe book collection today. Avoid Tauli on p27 though as it was a lot of effort for not a very good dish! Just noticed on p69 Chicken Yogurt which is very similar to my Yogurt & Parmesan Chicken Breasts – spooky! Great photos by the way!
It’s a fab book isn’t it? Very cool you have it too and thanks for the tip about the Tauli. Can’t say it appeals much – particularly the mention of dripping! I’d been looking at the Chicken Yoghurt recipe too, but might give yours ago instead 😉 And I’m rather intrigued by the Honey Health Candy on p89 which was recommended as good for Simon and Chris when they do their “daring things”!
Oh the memories! Made us smile, as our family have a ‘cheats’ Four Sausage Casserole for those winter days when you want hot comfort food without the wait. Smoked sausage, Bratwurst, pepperami and a premium sausage of your choice, plus a tin of minestrone soup and a tin of baked beans, and an onion. Makes me cringe reading the ingredients back, but it’s quick, tasty, and a blessing when the family shout “what’s for tea” as you slide through the door after work! PS. Creamy mashed potato is a must-have combination
Fantastic – we all have our tinned soup and baked bean recipes! I might have to make this a future theme of challenge on the blog… I think my kids would love your Four Sausage Casserole. And so would I! 😉
4 badges?! You have no idea how jealous I am! I love this, it so similar to a sausage casserole I do that also features a tin of baked beans. Not fancy cooking at all but it tastes good and is perfect on a cold night! Great photos too.
Good food certainly doesn’t have to be fancy. And I do love creative uses for baked beans. There’s a meal we used to have for school dinners called Beanies, which consisted of baked beans encased in sausage meat and breadcrumbs and then deep fried. I’ve never seen it anywhere since and I often think I must try and recreate sometime… So were you a BP fan too then?
Forget on for the kids, my husband would adore this!