Jack Monroe’s sausage casserole recipe, The Guardian.
For the full recipe, click here: Jack Monroe’s sausage casserole recipe, The Guardian.
And in case you missed it or are curious, here’s the whole shebang about the free range sausages: Ethics vs Economics: Choosing free-range.
Jack Monroe. Twitter: @MsJackMonroe.
Categories: Guardian Food, Recipes & Food
Had a quick scan of the Guardian comments, and this was my favourite: “This sounds fine, but I’d replace the sausage with venison and the bitter with Champagne. I’d also throw in a few slices of black truffle, a hefty sprinkling of saffron and serve topped with gold leaf in the glovebox of a Rolls Royce. Sprinkle with sapphires to taste.” Very funny!
I stopped reading the comments when I was still up at half one this morning wondering why people are so awful to people who are *just trying* to do *something* a bit useful. I never pretended I was a chef. I’m a mum that knocked up some stuff from my cupboard and a lot of other people went ‘whoa – that’s simple, cheers!’. Why do people hate that so much?!
Baked beans are for people on benefits while free-range sausages are for affluent foodies; you mixed things up and messed with the rules! Seriously though, I think the Guardian readership like many affluent lefties, are a conflicted bunch – they like to patronise the poor from an intellectual height but they don’t really want to be exposed to poor people’s food on their foodie pages.. Chin up, I know it must be tough going, just remember who you’re doing it for.
I can’t imagine. Its a sausage casserole. Take it, leave it or adapt it. What’s the problem? If your finances are ok, pick a cheap recipe, cook it and use the money youve saved to buy stuff for your local food bank.
Hi, Jack ,Paula from Argentina here, a follower and admirer of yours. I just wanted to say that if you’re going to dedicate time to try and to understand and or analyze why people do it, I think you’re in for a never ending task that wont be rewarding in the end. I’d say read just the first two or three comments and that’s it.
Well … been there, seen that:
A young woman shows bravery and shares her great solutions with others, therefore, no real fault can be found with her. Many people DO need other people to have, like, HUGE faults, easily discernible, always the stuff long comment orgies are made of: just.to.feel. better.about. themselves.
So there you go: while people who read and use your recipes and get hope from your courage are happy that you exist (as a subject), those who only need a quick mood fix don’t get anything from you. So they go and construct a situation from which they can derive a feeling of superiority they need so much (thus making an object out of you) … All I wanted to say in so many words (English being my foreign language), is: it’s not you at all 🙂 It’s Them. And it happens again and again, unfortunately.
Jack,
I too am a seasider, and my sister went to Westcliff high. The Internet is a bit of a joke these days in which people can literally type what they like without retribution, put up videos of beheadings, and pretend to be whoever they want whilst antagonising whoever they want.
My advice would be simple: you do not need to search for acceptance in comments on websites, when you have already done more than 99% of the people and professionals, to combat the government’s attack on its people.
Continue to do what you do to help others and look after your son, and get some well earned rest!
From one Southender to another, thank you.
That had me giggling too 😉
The thing is I was taught if you cannot say a good thing about someone do not bother to say anything.A lot of the so called haters Jack are sad unhappy people and like bullys have a very narrow view of life I and loads of others admire you and cheer on all your achievements!
Dont worry about it, this is Guardian readers doing what they (we) do. The main thing is you are provoking a real debate about what we eat. Keep up the good work.
I agree, Jack. The haters are just jealous bullies. You have a gift that you are sharing to help others, and if it doesn’t apply to them, they should move on without comment. (It would be like if I attacked you because I am from the US and would need a conversion from p to $. Or if I attacked you because the recipes do not cater to my allergies and intolerances. I am not your direct audience, but I enjoy your recipes and make modifications so that they work for me. Without comment. )
Someone once told me you haven’t made it until you have a troll, so consider yourself having made it!
Don’t take what the awful people say to heart. I know it’s hard and I am giving you advice that I myself can’t follow!
You are a beautiful person who shines. Others are always going to try and knock you down. Know that you have plenty of fans that appreciate, respect, and wait on the edge of their seats for your next recipe. XOXO
Ignore the trolls, every column ever written has them. Some are even working for Conservative central office. I go to war with them on twitter.
Your recipes are like mine, often bungitin ingredients.
Look at recipes for Christmas cake or puddings, there are hundreds of variations
More power to your elbow. A friend found your blog a while ago when he was really down like you were and you helped save his life.Be proud you may have done that unknowingly for others
sausages are a great freezer standby in my house – layers of potatoes, onions with gravy a few sausages topped with another layer of potatoes cooked long and slow with crusty bread a great cheap winter warmer
Hi Jack I read the Guardian online cos I can’t afford to buy it. I think a lot of the commenters go on there just to comment, hence snarkiness. I’m sure lots of people have read your column and quietly sighed a thank you to you. Keep it up!
I’m sure if the Prime Minister can eat Appple Crumble with heads of state that the Guardian readers can manage a sausage casserole.
The smug food snobbery expressed in those Guardianista comments, along with equivalent forms of cultural bigotry and elitism, reveal to me some deeply classist attitudes among such members of the supposedly liberal left.
Reblogged this on HUMAN RIGHTS & THE SIEGE OF BRITAIN POLITICAL JOURNAL.
Jack, seriously, ignore people criticizing your meals. I was watching Jamie’s 15 meals and they involve so much faffing around expensive extra ingredients.
You’re doing a good thing – simple, low cost meals, that don’t take forever, and can be served to a family. The other meals you see in the papers and on TV involve too much complexity.
I was initially rather bemused, but I’ve actually become so angered by this today, that I don’t even know how to articulate it properly. There are some really hefty political issues facing the left, and not an insubstantial part of that is the fact that the political left no longer pay anything but lip service to the needs or will of the working classes. The smug superior shit poured over Jack’s column in the Guardian really only confirms my disgust at the way the political left has abandoned working class people, their needs and their interests. All we are to such Guardianistas are an abstract ‘worthy cause’ to mouth concern about; so be sure to know your place and don’t aspire to invade their territory with sausage fucking casserole.
Jack, the negative comments over on The Guardian are not a reflection of you or your recipe – it’s a reflection of the fact they are the wrong audience for your frugal meals. I might be wrong, but I suspect the people who use food banks or need frugal recipes are probably not the demographic that read The Guardian.
>I suspect the people who use food banks or need frugal recipes are probably not the demographic that read The Guardian.
Many working class people and people on low incomes read the Guardian, I count myself as one of them.
I was genuinely angered by a lot of the comments. But the fact the people who comment on the food pages have behaved completely disreputably, and dishonorably and shamefully shouldn’t blind us to the fact that Jack’s recipes are needed in their pages.
I’m a Guardian reading, middle class foodie. I love food and I’m a skilled cook. I’ve never made any of Jack’s recipes and I probably never will. I think Jack is absolutely brilliant. The recipes are all quick, need no specialist equipment and have no complicated techniques. I thought Jack’s comment about the sausage casserole being based on a chef’s recipe was very funny. I bet the chef said, “Cook haricot beans until soft”. They always do that – and if you’ve never used them before, how long does it take? So if you’ve never cooked before, you are already stuck. Buying a tin of beans and washing them makes the recipe quicker and easier and is loads better than buying a garbage ready meal.
When I first saw Jack’s recipes I did think, “Oh no. That’s not cooking.” But then I thought about it and I remember a time when I couldn’t cook – I lived on porrige for a year because my attempts at cooking were inedible. Jack’s recipes would have been much needed. Jack, keep up the good work. Take the criticism on the chin – they don’t know what they’re talking about. And good luck with your book.
Jack, I have tried several of your recipes, and every single time they make me happy for several reason: One, they’re created by someone who just KNOWS what’s it like to worry about eating properly and something nutritionally balanced but who needs to do it cheaply. Two, my purse never hates me for buying the ingredients! Three, they taste amazing! And four, it’s simple, tasty cooking that can be done cheaply and quickly, and people are shocked when I tell them how much, etc.
IGNORE THESE HATERS! Haters gon’ hate, as they say. You’re doing some fabulous and current to the way most of the world lives. If they want to be snobby about it, let them be! We’ll be happier, healthier people in the long run!! x
I like the “washing the baked bean” thing. A good tip and those who criticised either didn’t get the cost implication of other beans or the sugar implication of beans. One thing I’d do different is butcher’s sausagemeat rather than sausages. Who needs skins? And it gives you more flexibility on portion size.
wow some people are vicious! im a young mum not on benefits but equally skint! these have really really helped me as I am a rubbish cook so thank you Jack
Hey Jack,
Just tried this and a few notes:
Its too tomatoee, I think maybe two tbls of tomato puree would have sufficed, instead of a whole can of concentrated puree. Maybe a tin of kidney beans or somesuch like would be better than a tin of rinsed baked beans. For me they shrunk very small after simmering for 15 mins.
Other than that, another interesting cheap meal. Filling too.
Decent cheap recipes and wholesome and filling. Great article and bugger the trolls
I was looking for something to make on Bonfire night for the people coming to my little party (I live in NYC and am educating my friends on weird British traditions). This is perfect! Will bulk up with some potatoes as well. Thanks Jack!
I really think you should sue Richard Little John for libel! He presents you as someone you are clearly not and this damages your reputation. I couldn’t get past the first few sentences because they were all just complete misrepresentations of you and anyone else in a similar situation.
I tried the original recipe and quite liked it but found the addition of bitter not really to my taste. Not a criticism, just a different point of view.
In the spirit of the original intent, and for those who have a slightly sweeter taste I’d suggest forgetting the bitter, not draining the baked beans (yes. yes, sugar blah!), halving the amount of tomato puree and adding some chilli to taste. Just tried it tonight and despite being full I can’t stop going back for just one more spoonful!
Anyway, thanks for the original recipe. This lasted 3 days last time – and you’re right, it’s so much more flavoursome on day 2!
Ok I’m not sure if these suggestions would take it out of your budget or not, but they are very tasty. I do a version that uses a tin of baked beans and a tin of the cheapest kidney beans, a box of the cheapest chopped tomatoes (instead of puree), and crucially… a dash of dark soy sauce and a good pinch of paprika to make the sauce smoky and velvety. It can be bulked out with chopped carrots too.
Delicious and affordable. I used cheap red wine instead of beer as that’s what we had in, and added some smoked paprika from my spice rack. I was amazed how flavourful the recipe was with such basic ingredients. Keep doing what you’re doing Jack, you are helping so many people!
Hey! Made this casserole for supper last week with Linda Mcartney Veggie sausages rather than the pork, and I omitted the beer – and it was an absolute treat. Served with a baked sweet potato: just delicious!