Make weeknight meals easy with John and Lisa's family favourites
John and Lisa are in the kitchen with a meal that will soon become your new go-to midweek menu.
Great for busy parents and guaranteed to satisfy the hungriest members of the family, Lisa's sausage, sweet potato and sourdough bake and John's quick pear and caramel tarts will make midweek meal times great again!
Sausage, sweet potato and sourdough bake
Serves: 4
Ingredients
8 good quality pork sausages2 onions, cut into wedges4 cloves garlic, smashed500g sweet potato, cut into smallish chunksA good drizzle olive oil150g sourdough bread, torn150/200ml chicken stockA handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
Method
Heat the oven to 200 degrees, 180 degrees fan oven.
Put the sausages, onion, garlic, sweet potatoes and bread into a roasting tin and drizzle with a good amount of olive oil. Season well and roast for 15 -20 minutes.
Give everything a little bit of a turn and drizzle with the chicken stock and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes until the sausages are browned and sticky and delicious
Serve with buttered peas
Quick pear and caramel tart with crème fraiche
A conventional pear tarte tartin can be a bit tricky but this quick one is a clever and quick alternative.
Ingredients
1 large ovenproof frying pan8 pears peeled, cut into quarters50g sugar100ml sweet Sherry or Masala250g caster sugarA squirt of glucose1 tablespoon of water1 vanilla pod500g puff pastry rolled out a little lager than the frying pan
Method
Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees
Take the pears and arrange into a large cold frying pan. Sprinkle with the 50g sugar and pour over the sherry or Masala.
Turn the heat on low and cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes.
Heat the remaining sugar with glucose, 1 tablespoon of water and the vanilla bean. Bring it to the boil and let it turn to caramel, it should take 3 or 4 minutes.
Lift the lid on the warmed sherry pears and pour over the caramel, keep over the heat and leave to bubble.
Drape the pastry over and tuck it in and let it puff a little, pop into the oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes.
Take from the oven and leave to cool for 20 minutes before turning out on to a large serving plate.
Cut a wedge and serve with a dollop of creme fraiche.
Enjoy!