Sausage & Potato Bake

I’ve baked sausages before and I love roast potatoes, but I’d never thought about cooking them together — now I wish I’d tried this much earlier. It makes an interesting, colourful and easy meal. The addition of the bread may sound a little unusual and isn’t absolutely necessary, but I think it does add colour and texture to the dish.

For 4 serving:

800–900g potatoes, scrubbed

6 (about 500g) good pork sausages

1/4–1/2 loaf bread (125g)

2 cloves garlic

1–2 tsp each rosemary and thyme leaves

3 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

20 cherry tomatoes

chopped parsley to garnish

Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a large roasting pan with baking paper or a Teflon liner.

Cut each potato into quarters or eighths depending on size and the sausages into 3–4 pieces each (the pieces of sausages and potatoes should be roughly the same size). Spread the sausages and potatoes in the prepared roasting pan.

Roughly chop the garlic and scatter it over with the herbs. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil then place in the middle of the oven and cook for 20 minutes.

Stir the sausages and potatoes then tear the bread into bite-sized pieces and scatter it and the cherry tomatoes over the top.

Return the tray to the oven and roast for a further 15–20 minutes. Remove from the oven and stand for 5 minutes. Garnish with the parsley and serve.

Photography: Lindsay Keats

Carrot Cake

A good carrot cake is hard to go past. I think this one is nice enough to enjoy un-iced (try serving it as a dessert warm from the oven with ice cream on the side). However, if you’re willing to make a little extra effort, the icing definitely adds another dimension (and if your conscience allows, you could even consider doubling the quantities!).

For a 23-25cm cake

1/2 cup canola or other oil

3 large eggs

3 cups grated carrot

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground mixed spice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Cream Cheese Icing

1/2 cup cold cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla essence

1–1 1/4 cups icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Measure the oil into a large bowl, break in the eggs and whisk until well combined. Add the grated carrot and stir until well mixed.

Sift in the flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, spices and salt. Sprinkle with the raisins and nuts if using, then stir until evenly mixed.

Non-stick spray a round 23-25cm tin. Pour the batter into the tin, then bake at 180°C for 25–35 minutes or until a skewer poked in the centre comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven, allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning it out and cooling completely on a rack.

To make the icing, combine the cold cream cheese and vanilla essence in a food processor. Sift in the icing sugar (start with the smaller quantity) and process just enough to mix thoroughly.