Running Commentary

Try this delicous recipe after a long run on a cold day. Whether you're vegan or a carnivore, it's a real treat - just choose your sausages accordingly...

Full credit to Meera Sodha - Rob & Julia have just tinkered with her original recipe to make this hearty meal.

Serves 4; halve for two - obv!

INGREDIENTS

2 leeks

2 tins of butter beans

800-900g potatoes

200-300g spinach

1 fresh long red chilli

4-6 sausages

...and, for the pesto:

130g sun-dried tomatoes (drained weight)

50g cashew nuts

40g fresh basil (you can include the stems)

4 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp of 'nooch' - nutritional yeast, e.g. Engevita

juice of 1 lemon

teaspoon of salt

...don't worry too much about those measurements; if in doubt, be generous.

METHOD

Heat the oven to 200-220c. While it's warming up, chop the leeks and the potatoes - do the leeks how you like, the potatoes even and small-ish. Choose your sausages! Once you've done all that, dinner will be ready in half an hour. Phase one: put the sausages in the oven, heat a little oil and add the leeks, on a low heat, and put the potatoes, covered in slightly salted cold water, on to boil in a lidded pan. Set a timer for eight minutes. Sort out your pesto ingredients, stirring the leeks every now and then. Phase two: after eight minutes, the potatoes should be coming to a boil. Add the butter beans, liquid and all, to the leeks, and set the timer again, for ten minutes this time. In a food mixer - or with a hand blender in a bowl - whizz up all the pesto ingredients. Phase three: after ten minutes, set the timer for another ten. Check the potatoes are tender with a sharp knife - they should be just about ready. Add the pesto and the spinach to the leek-and-butter-bean mix - stir; you might find it easier to put a lid on for a minute or two to wilt the spinach first. Drain and mash the potatoes to your liking; the Deering method calls for sunflower spread, a splash of soya milk and black pepper, but you know best, and you might want real dairy in there. Trim and de-seed the chilli and chop it finely - don't touch your eyes, wash your hands well when you're done! Stir the chilli into the stew and take it off the heat. As the timer beeps the sausages should be perfect; now to assemble. Spoon the stew over a good dollop of the mash, with a sausage or two on top of that, and serve with real or plant-based mayonnaise and Dijon mustard.

Enjoy!