So, winter is finally here because we got snow. Everyone around us has gotten pummeled but we just got a light dusting — still, it’s the white stuff, so winter is here. With winter, as I’ve said previously, I crave comfort foods. Now, for me, comfort foods aren’t necessarily foods I had as a child, but things that are just… comforting. Some, yes, are childhood favourites and some are newer favourites that have made their way into my kitchen in more recent years.

My hubby brought home a double-pack of honey-garlic sausages from Walmart, as they were on sale for really cheap. Typically, we’ll throw those on a pan in the oven and bake them off then serve on hotdog buns. I wanted to do something else. Something not relying on the bready-buns would be preferable. So I kind of poked around the internet, didn’t find what I was looking for, then went looking through the cupboards and fridge to see what I could concoct.

Ingredients

3 Tbsp oil
10 honey-garlic sausages
3 carrots, peeled and cut how you like them
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 package sliced mushrooms
1 large can diced tomatoes, pureed (or a can of crushed tomatoes) — I use no salt added varieties
1/2 can tomato paste
1 box (4 cups) low sodium beef broth
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp mild curry powder
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp Mrs Dash table blend
3-4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.
Head oil in a dutch oven pot over medium heat. Brown all sides of the sausages (do not cook through; just add colour). Remove from the oil and set aside.
Saute the bell pepper, carrots and mushrooms in the oil until just beginning to soften.
Add the potatoes and garlic. Stir and heat for a minute more.
Season with all seasonings.
Pour tomato sauce over the vegetables. Pour in beef broth and Worcestershire. Mix well.
Set the sausages back into the dutch oven, submerging them in the sauce.
Add bay leaves.
Raise the temperature and bring to a boil.
Put the lid on the dutch oven and put into the oven for 1-1.5 hours, for until the sausages are completely cooked through and the mixture has thickened.
If the broth hasn’t thickened at all, put 2 Tbsp flour into a bowl and remove about 1/2 cup of the hot liquid from the dutch oven into the bowl and whisk together (carefully, as it’s hot). Then, add this mixture to the dutch oven and heat over a medium-high heat to a boil, stirring gently. It will thicken up a bit. Alternately, you could add a little cream or milk to the broth, if you wanted it to be a bit creamier, but I found this to be perfect.
Serve, making sure 1-2 sausage links get into each person’s bowl.