Spring Veg Sausage Casserole

Ok so it's not really the weather for casseroles, but this is a delicious one and well worth making. I used broad beans out the garden and I would recommend double podding them but I didn't bother and it would have been better if I had. This is just such a bright and flavourful dish, I love all the fresh veggies in it.

Spring Veg Sausage Casserole (from Good Food Magazine July 2013)
(Serves 4)

1 tbsp oil
8 good-quality sausages
1 small onion, chopped
1 fennel bulb, quartered, then sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp plain flour
150ml white wine
500ml chicken stock
200g pack green beans, halved
300g broad beans, double podded (unpodded weight)
300g peas
zest 1 lemon, juice of ½
handful parsley, chopped
handful basil, chopped

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the sausages, cook for a few mins until browned all over, then transfer to a plate. Tip the onion and fennel into the pan and cook for 10-15 mins until nice and soft, then add the garlic and the fennel seeds. Cook for a few mins more, moving everything around the pan now and then, to prevent the garlic from burning.

Stir the flour into the vegetables, and cook for 1 min. Pour in the wine, let it bubble for 1 min, give everything a good stir, then add the stock and return the sausages to the pan, seasoning well. Cover, then gently simmer for 30 mins.

Add the green beans, broad beans and peas, then cook, uncovered, for 2 mins more. Stir in the lemon zest and juice, and herbs. Add a little more salt and pepper if it needs it, then serve with crusty bread.