I recently added this dish to my repertoire of suppers you can cook in one roasting tin. It is the essence of uncomplicated cooking and what home cook is not a fan of that, especially midweek when there isn’t a great deal of time? And as all Aga owners know, this type of cooking is particularly suited to the Aga way of cooking.

My recipe is based on one of Nigel Slater’s from his “midweek dinner” series in the Guardian. It came about, as so many meals do, when I had not planned what to cook but had some pork sausages and a couple of fennel bulbs in the fridge that needed using up. A quick Google and there was Nigel with the inspiration I needed. He recommends honey but my Canadian-born husband and I prefer maple syrup.

Roasted Sausages, Fennel and Potatoes

Ingredients

For 4 people

• About 8 good quality pork sausages
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 3-4 fennel bulbs, trimmed and cut into thickish segments
• 600g new potatoes, halved
• 75ml white vermouth or white wine
• Heaped tbsp grain mustard
• 2 tbsps maple syrup or honey

Method

• Place the sausages in the large Aga roasting tin with a tablespoon of oil and slide it onto the second set of runners in the roasting oven for 5-10 minutes to colour the sausages a little
• Take it out of the oven and add the fennel and potatoes, turning them in the oil and seasoning. You might want to add a little more oil
• Return to the oven and roast for about 40 minutes, turning everything about halfway through
• Take out of the oven and remove everything to a serving dish. Place this in the simmering oven
• Place the roasting tin on the simmering plate and add the vermouth or wine. Let this bubble up while scraping up any bits that have stuck to the tin
• Stir in the mustard and maple syrup or honey and let this all bubble for a couple of minutes before tasting for seasoning
• Pour the “sauce” over everything in the dish and return it to the simmering oven until you’re ready to eat for 15 to 30 minutes. During this time everything will become extra sticky and caramelised

Serve with a green salad or green vegetable or indeed both.