Sausage, bean, and cabbage casserole

It may not sound exciting but this recipe is a firm favourite in our house. Searching for new recipes for sausages, my husband found this online. I've adapted it for our tastes. 

Ingredients: 

6 Lincolnshire sausages (or any other sausages you like really)
1 onion
1 can black beans
1 can butter beans
(you can use whatever beans you like. We just happen to like these)
Rosemary (fresh or dry) - 1 tbsp
Sour cream - 200g
Apple cider vinegar - 2-3tbsp
Whole grain mustard - 1tbsp
Water

Cut the onion in half, and then slice it into long thin strips. Fry these off until soft then put aside. 

Cut the sausages in half, and then in half again but this time length ways. You want to end up with four pieces from one sausage. Make sure that you leave the skin on as this helps to keep the pieces together as they cook. 

Using the same pan you cooked the onions in, place the pieces of sausage in skin side down. You want to cook them on a high heat until they are really crispy on all sides. The skin will shrink and crisp up, and make the sausage pieces curl over slightly. That's fine. 

It should end up looking like this: 

There might be quite a bit of fat from the sausages left when this is done. I would advise to drain some off. 

Add the onions back to the pan with the sausages. Then add in the two cans of beans (drained), the apple cider vinegar, the whole grain mustard, and the rosemary. Mix these all together and cook on a low heat for a few minutes. 

At this point I usually take the pan off the heat for a couple of minutes to allow it to cool before I add the sour cream. I've had it curdle before when I added cold cream to a hot pan. If your sour cream is at room temp then you should be fine to add while on a low heat. 

Once the sour cream is added, mix thoroughly, coating all the ingredients. At this point I usually add a little bit of water just to thin the cream a bit and help to coat everything. You will want to taste the sauce to see whether it needs more vinegar. I usually end up adding a little more vinegar, water and sour cream before the end to get the flavour and consistency just how I like it. I would suggest you do the same for your taste. 

Take your half cabbage and chop it finely. Place the cabbage on top of the mixture and put the lid on your pan for a few minutes. Once it's softened a little, mix it into the sausage casserole and replace the lid. Cook until the cabbage is to your preferred softness. I like mine to still be a little crunchy. 

Before you serve, taste the sauce again to make sure it's as you want it. Add more of whichever liquid it needs. 

Your casserole should end up looking like this: 

Enjoy!!