Years ago I created a super easy tray bake with root veg and sausages that I called the ‘Magic’ Sausage Supper. But after my diabetes diagnosis and turning down the Low Carb path, I forgot about Sausages Suppers.
Until one day I had some sausages and a cabbage which needed eating. The result was my Magic Sausage & Cabbage Supper which I loved even more than the original.
In this recipe I’ve evolved the idea even more using green veg AND serving it with pesto. Talk about a flavour explosion. Without sacrificing any of the ease of the original recipe.
The Magic Green Sausage Supper
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 4 sausages (400g / 14oz)
- 2 heads broccoli quartered lengthwise (600g / 1.3lb)
- 1 bunch kale (200g / 7oz)
- 4 tablespoons pesto
- 25 g shaved parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Turn your oven to 250C. Chop your onion in half lengthwise. Then peel and slice the onion finely into 1/2 moon shapes.
- Place onion and sausages on a very large roasting tray. Drizzle with a little oil and pop in the oven. Set your timer for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, chop the broccoli lengthwise into quarters. When the timer goes, toss the broccoli in with the sausages and onion and return to the oven. Set your timer for 15 minutes.
- While the sausages are cooking, remove the stems from the kale and tear each leaf into 3-4 pieces, discarding the stem.
- When the 15 minutes is up. Toss in the kale with the sausages and veg and pop back in the oven. Set your timer for a final 5 minutes.
- After the timer goes, everything should be cooked and the sausages browned. If not, pop back in the oven for another 5 minutes.
- To serve divide sausages and veg between 2 plates. Top with pesto and shaved parmesan (if using).
Nutrition
(video coming soon)
Variations & Substitutions
Keto / ultra low carb – replace broccoli with extra kale (just add it at the same time as the other kale). Make sure your sausages don’t contain rice flour or other fillers.
vegetarian – sausages = cooked chickpeas, lentils or beans (added with the kale). Or use eggs – make little nests for them in the cooked kale and break an egg into each nest. Roast eggs for 5 minutes until just cooked through. Or serve with halloumi or crumbled feta.
dairy-free – dairy-free pesto and skip parmesan or replace with roast almonds or walnuts.
more substantial (carb lovers) – add root veg like potatoes or sweet potato with the onion. Or serve with cooked pasta.
more substantial (low carb) – walnuts, almonds, extra parmesan, extra pesto, avocado.
Low FODMAP – skip the onion and broccoli. Serve with baby spinach leaves.
different vegetables – root veg can be added with the onion (dice finely so they cook in time). Cabbage, zucchini, cauliflower, eggplant or bell peppers can be added with the broccoli. Asparagus, green beans, collard greens can be added with the kale. Or serve with fresh herbs like parsley or basil or salad leaves. And you could do all broccoli or all kale if you prefer.
different protein – see the vegetarian options or use chicken breast or thigh fillets or bone in thighs. Or fish fillets – be prepared to get these out of the oven before adding the kale because fish will only take 10 minutes to cook.
different sauce – Parsley Walnut Salsa, Mayonnaise, Cashew Sauce or Tahini Lemon Sauce, Lime & Cashew ‘Sour Cream’.
more fancy / for entertaining – it’s pretty fancy as it is. If you really want to show off add some roast pistachios or almonds with the parmesan. Maybe serve dessert.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
onion – will keep in the pantry for months. Best if in a dark corner in a brown paper bag.
sausages – freeze them.
broccoli – will keep wrapped in a plastic bag in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. Can be frozen (if you have time chop before freezing so it will defrost quickly in the pan).
kale – will keep in the fridge in a plastic bag uncooked for 1-2 weeks. Once cooked it will keep for a month or so in the fridge. Can be frozen both cooked or raw.
pesto – commercial jars of pesto will keep for months in the pantry. Fresh pesto will keep in the fridge for a few weeks. Cover with olive oil to prevent exposure to air and browning reactions. Can be frozen.
parmesan – wrap in baking paper and store in the fridge in a sealed paper bag or airtight container. Will keep for months. Can be frozen if you’re going away.
Problem Solving Guide
bland – more salt! or a squeeze of lemon. Next time use different pesto or make your own.
too dry / burnt – Next time get it out earlier or use a lower temperature. For now a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil will help. And discard any really burnt pieces.
no oven – boil broccoli and kale until cooked through (5 mins for broccoli and 2-3 for kale). Pan fry sausages.
Prepare Ahead
Yes! Just cook as per the recipe but keep the pesto and parmesan separately. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or can be frozen. To serve, warm in a frying pan with a little oil, or pop everything in the oven 250C for about 10 minutes or until hot.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
Delicious 🤤
It’s a good one isn’t it CIara. So glad you enjoyed!
So good ? For the greens I put broccoli, zucchini and chard. The layer of onions made it sweet and nice. And the spoon of pesto, yummy ! Thank you Jules.
Yum Emilie!
Got my green on & made this for St. Paddy’s Day, yesterday. Awesome!
Brilliant Ruby!
As I never like the result of roasting onion, I went the frying pan route instead (and before you say it, steam-fried broccoli on a low heat will take care of itself just as much as the contents of a roasting pan, and it’s not like broccoli benefits that much from roasting). I didn’t cook sausages because I’ve been eating a fair bit of red or processed meat lately, and added a tin of chickpeas instead. I had one large head of broccoli ~450g, so added some pre-cooked capsicum for extra veg, and silverbeet rather than kale. I also added veg stock powder and Italian dried herbs for extra flavour, and generous amounts of pesto and Parmesan, over pasta. I’m also not keen on pesto being the only topping on a dish, but it worked as a flavour enhancer here. Good.
I was just thinking yesterday I wonder how Mark is getting on. Love all the additions and if it’s easier for you to cook on the stove than roast go for it!
This has evolved into a dish for me to use up leftover vegetables. After steam-frying them (and getting a bit over enthusiastic with the water, so there was some sauce, but none the worse for that) I added white beans to heat through, and went vegan with just walnuts and extra olive oil. I had cheddar and yoghurt on the leftovers.
Isn’t it fun how a recipe can evolve Mark – do you still use the pesto? Or just walnuts and oil?
I didn’t bother with the pesto this time.
I actually used (chicken) sausages this time, and roasted the result. Two heads of broccoli, one small sweet potato and one large potato, which turned out to be less veg than I’d thought, so I had some peas with the leftovers. I didn’t bother with the pesto or the cheese this time. Good.
Did the potato and sweet potato cook enough in the same time Mark?
The sweet potato did but the potato didn’t. I had to fish the pieces out and microwave them, as I did for the Lemon and Basil Chicken tonight. I really should start giving them a few minutes *before* I put them in the roasting dish.
We live and learn Mark 🙂
Whenever I’m boiling potstoes I always cook extra so then I can throw them in things like this.
Dear Jules,
living in Austria, I would like to know what sausages you are using, as I can’t find any looking like those in the picture, which certainly are more spicy than “Vienna” boiling sausages….. In Portugal there are sausages for barbecueing, I guess those are the right ones? Gotta wait till possible to return to Portugal, I guess….
Dear Christa!
Lucky you living in Austria 🙂
I’m using fresh (unsmoked) pork sausages. Here they are called Italian-style sausages and they aren’t spicy at all.
You could totally use Vienna boiling sausages instead (if they are thin they won’t need as long to cook – so be prepared to get them out earlier).
Really any sausage will work. No need to wait until you return to Portugal!
Does that help?
The magic sausage supper is on my husband’s regular rotation, the magic cabbage one is on mine (we just had it for dinner last night). I’ve resisted trying this one because neither of us is into standard pesto (trying to get that made is not easy in these parts, because finding good quantities of fresh basil is a rare happening), but looking at the recipe tonight, I was thinking that either pesto using arugula or using chimichurri would be a couple of workable possibilities. Magic sausage suppers are such a great idea!
Definiely chimmichurri Susan!
Or make a pesto with parsley and walnuts instead of pine nuts and basil – It’s my go-to in Winter.
And I’m very impressed your husband makes the original 🙂
I tried this with the parsley walnut salsa (using macadamias) and added some left over Brussels sprouts. It turned out very nice, but way too much food. That’s the last time I add extra veggies to this one! I think that I will mostly stick to making the cabbage version, which has turned out to be my favorite, as well as the easiest version.
The cabbage is hard to beat Susan! Glad you gave this new one a chance 🙂