Sausage & Bean Casserole

I love this kind of comfort food when its cold! The smokey paprika in this gave it a Bonfire Night feel, very comforting. There was plenty for the 5 of us, with crusty bread to mop up the sauce. I love chorizo, but I picked a mild one (from Lidl) so that it wasnt too spicy for the children. You could use any beans you liked, I used haricot because I had some in the cupboard.

2 tbsp olive
1 onion , finely chopped
2 medium sticks celery , finely chopped
1 yellow pepper , chopped
1 red pepper , chopped
3  garlic cloves , chopped
1 chorizo sausage (about 300g), sliced
6 pork sausages
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp dried thyme
125ml white wine
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 chicken stock cube
1 x 400g tin haricot beans, rinsed

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based pan. Brown the pork sausages, then remove. Fry the chorizo until the oil turns orange & it is slightly crispy. Remove the chorizo but leave the oil. Add the onion and cook gently for 5 minutes. Add the celery and peppers and cook for a further 5 mins. Return the cooked sausages to the pan.
Stir in the garlic, spices and dried thyme and continue cooking for 1 - 2 mins or until the aromas are released.
Pour in the wine and use a wooden spoon to remove any residue stuck to the pan. Add the tinned tomatoes, and fresh thyme and bring to a simmer. Crumble in the stock cube and stir in.
Cook for 40 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook for a further five minutes. Remove the thyme sprigs, season with black pepper and serve.