Why you should be taking sausages out of their casings

A quick ragù

While beef mince will likely always have a place in your freezer, having some sausages on standby means you can whip up a quick ragù-style sauce for pastas. This also means you can mix and match the proteins you use in your cheat’s spag bol. Beef, pork and lamb sausages all work well together to create a delicious sauce. If this sounds like too much effort, sauté the sausage with some hardy greens such as kale or broccoli (or with your favourite tomato sauce as in the recipe below), and toss  with cooked pasta and serve with lots of grated Parmesan.

Get the recipe for butter-roasted tomato-and-sausage spaghetti here.

Make a more interesting meatball

Sure, you could find the ultimate meatball recipe that uses herbs, spices, onions and garlic and make your own meatballs at home. Or you could give yourself the night off and make a tasty meatball  using your favourite sausages instead. This is also a great way of finishing off that  pack of sausages when there’s not quite enough to for a full meal. Remove the meat, roll it up into balls and cook them  in your sauce or broth. Chicken sausages are especially useful here, as their meatballs are great served as a bulking option for chicken soup or in a Thai curry broth.

Get the recipe for watermelon and herb tabbouleh with pork meatballs here.

Fuss-free larb

A popular dish in Laos and parts of Thailand, larb is the fast, punchy dinner idea you didn’t know you needed. While it can be made with nearly any minced meat, it’s common to use pork or chicken. While pork and chicken mince is by no means difficult to get hold of, it’s not something most of us think to buy. Enter your favourite chicken or pork sausage, which when released from its casing and given a quick sauté in aromatics, forms the basis of your larb . Served with lettuce cups and some sticky rice, this is the ultimate summer dinner recipe.

Get the recipe for chicken larb here.