Sausage and Halloumi Bake - using Linda McCartney's sausages - a quick and easy weeknight vegetarian meal that's SO tasty and satisfying | thecookandhim.com

Posted in Recipes on 21.11.2017

Sausage and Halloumi Bake

prep: 15 mins / cook: 30 mins / inactive: 0 mins / total: 45 mins / quantity: 2 servings Print recipe?

Sausage and Halloumi Bake - using Linda McCartney's sausages - a quick and easy weeknight vegetarian meal that's SO tasty and satisfying | thecookandhim.com

Since deciding to be vegetarian I can honestly say I don’t miss meat.  Even as a kid I was never a big fan.  I never enjoyed the texture or flavour much and even in my young mind I could never reconcile eating what was once a living creature.  I grew up with pets and couldn’t understand why people thought there was a difference between eating a pig and a dog.  To me, a life was a life and it wasn’t mine to take ‘for the sake of a snack’.  I also know that vegetarian is not vegan.  And if it weren’t for cheese I could, without hesitation, be vegan.  I use almond milk in my tea and porridge.  I’m learning how to use flax eggs and aquafaba in baking.  There was something someone said on cookery tv programme the other day – he was making a dish with veal and said that if you use milk/milk products then you shouldn’t have a problem eating veal as it’s a by-product of the milk industry.  I can’t really explain why this hit home as much as it did.  I can’t deal with the heart wrenchingly horrifying images that people put out there of calves being taken away from their mothers so I do my best to avoid them with an ignorant fingers in ears ‘lalala can’t hear you’ response.  Pathetic I know.

I’m also trying really hard to not sound judgemental here.  These are MY opinions.  If you decide you don’t want to eat meat, for whatever reason, I believe it’s a conclusion you have to reach on your own.  Maybe there’ll be a tipping point, maybe it’ll be a passing comment that sticks with you.  But it’s like trying to lose weight/give up smoking etc.  You HAVE to get there by yourself.  You already know why you do/don’t eat certain things.

And so I’m on a mission to find vegan cheese alternatives.  But this is a process (a truly great process but a process all the same!) and I’d already developed this recipe (and a few more to come) before deciding that I need to find a way to live without cheese.

Sausage and Halloumi Bake - using Linda McCartney's sausages - a quick and easy weeknight vegetarian meal that's SO tasty and satisfying | thecookandhim.com

These days it’s even easier to eat meals without meat because there are just SO many great tasting alternatives.  In fact I’d go so far as to say Linda McCartney’s vegetarian sausages are actually waaaay better than their meat counterparts.  There’s no tough blergh chewy skin, no strange gristly bits and they crisp up just fantastically making THE best sausage sangers!   This vegetarian sausage and halloumi bake, however, is all about that goopy tomato sauce – just some passata and vegetables and you have a deliciously rich sauce that’s (very) mildly spiced and makes you just want to sit there with the whole pan and a spoon.  And maybe an obscene amount of crusty bread just to make sure you mop up all that goop.

Sausage and Halloumi Bake - using Linda McCartney's sausages - a quick and easy weeknight vegetarian meal that's SO tasty and satisfying | thecookandhim.com

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Sausage and Halloumi Bake

prep: 15 mins / cook: 30 mins / inactive: 0 mins / total: 45 mins / quantity: 2 servings

Ingredients

  • Couple of drizzles of olive oil
  • 6 vegetarian sausages – we love Linda McCartney’s
  • 1 red onion – peeled and finely diced
  • 3 cloves garlic – peeled and crushed
  • 1 large carrot – peeled and diced small
  • 1/2 red pepper – pips removed and medium diced
  • 300ml tomato passata
  • 2 cups closed cup mushrooms
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tblsp powdered veg stock or a veg stock cube
  • 1 tblsp tomato puree
  • handful fresh basil leaves – shredded
  • Salt and pepper
  • 225g halloumi cheese – thickly sliced

Instructions

  1. In a small frying pan with a drizzle of oil cook the sausages, turning frequently until they have plenty of crispy colour on most sides
  2. In a medium saucepan (one that can go under a grill - so no plastic handles!) add another drizzle of oil and gently saute the onion, garlic, carrot and pepper over a medium heat, stirring occasionally until the onion is translucent and the carrots are just starting to soften
  3. Add the passata, mushrooms, paprika, cumin and crumbled stock cube and stir to combine everything
  4. Gently simmer this for 2o minutes until the carrots are soft and the sauce is starting to thicken
  5. Add the tomato puree, shredded basil, season, stir and taste
  6. Add the cooked sausages, pushing into the sauce then top with the sliced halloumi cheese
  7. Preheat the grill to its highest setting then put the saucepan under - keep an eye on it, you don't want burnt cheese!
  8. Once the halloumi is browned serve immediately

Notes

  • You can make this ahead minus the cheese.   When you're ready to serve, simply reheat the sauce on the stove, top with the cheese and continue as per the recipe
Sausage and Halloumi Bake

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Hello there!  I’m Sam, devoted dog mum to Nooch and Baxter and your go-to vegan foodie on a mission to make plant-based eating a delicious adventure!  Join me as I whip up mouthwatering recipes that celebrate FLAVOUR.  From cozy comfort foods to vibrant salads and decadent desserts, there’s something for everyone in my kitchen.

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