Marion Grasby
Marion has a simple food philosophy that focuses on fresh flavours and tastes that satisfy. Her deep love of food and cooking has made her an intrepid eater who loves Thai street food as much as a fine dining degustation.
 
Marion is a food writer based in South Australia’s McLaren Vale wine region. She’s been cooking with the Cobb for more than seven years and is still amazed at how versatile it is, whether on the beach or the dining room table.
 

  
As I’m leaving work for the evening the last thing I want to do is battle through a busy supermarket to buy ingredients for dinner. Having a well-stocked pantry and some snags in the fridge is my mid-week supermarket prevention strategy. These braised sausages with lentils will get you out of trouble without compromising on flavour. Don’t worry too much about having the exact ingredients...improvise with what you’ve got handy.
 

Braised Sausages with Lentils
 
 
 

Serves 4

 
4 good-quality, chunky sausages (or 8 smaller sausages)
1 Tbsp oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
100g pancetta (or bacon), finely chopped
1 tsp ground fennel seeds (No fennel seeds? Try ground cumin seeds or leave out altogether)
˝ cup red wine (white wine or even chicken stock will do)
400g tinned tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
1 bay leaf
1 rosemary sprig (or fresh thyme or a sprinkle of dried herbs)
400g tinned brown lentils, drained and rinsed

Cobb fuel: 1 Cobble Stone or 10 heat beads
 
Light the Cobb and place the Cobb Frying Dish over the heat. Pour in the oil and fry the sausages until just golden brown (you can put the Cobb lid on to speed up the process). They don’t need to be cooked through, as you will cook them further in the sauce. Remove sausages from the dish and set aside.
 
Put onion, garlic, pancetta and fennel seeds into the Cobb Frying Dish and sauté until the onion is soft. As you fry the vegetables, use a wooden spoon to scrape off any brown bits left by the sausages on the bottom of the pan. The brown bits add flavour!
 
Stir in the red wine, tomatoes, sugar, bay leaf and rosemary. Put the sausages into the dish, pushing them down into the sauce so they absorb all the flavours. Put the Cobb lid on and leave to simmer for 30 minutes. Lift the lid and check the dish after 15 minutes – if the sauce is getting too dry, add ˝ cup of water.
 
Just before serving, remove the sausages from the dish and stir the lentils through the sauce. Place the sausages on top of the lentil mixture. Serve straight from the Cobb Frying Dish with plenty of crusty bread.