For a new and simple dinner idea for hungry mouths, sausage casseroles are an economical and easy-to-make dish and will feed your growing family.  Anyone can follow a casserole recipe. Always buy a good quality sausage because the taste and fat content of sausage varies greatly and this will obviously have an impact on your finished casserole.  Don’t worry if you’re not sure how to make home-made stock just buy branded stock cubes or a tub of granules, your local shop or supermarket will have a good range of instant stocks to choose from.  Stick to your usual brands and you shouldn’t go far wrong.  

An easy recipe for a sausage casserole with noodles that both children and adults will love. 

Sausage and Noodle Casserole
Serves 6
Cooking time 45 minutes

Ingredients
6 large pork sausage
2 rashers of bacon chopped into small pieces
1 onion chopped
3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 heaped teaspoon dried sage
1½ tblsp plain flour
400 fl ozs good quality stock, home made if possible
200 fl ozs sour cream
300gms medium noodles
Fresh Parsley

Gently fry the onion and chopped bacon in a tablespoon of the oil until the onions are softened.  They should look glossy but not brown, if the onion starts to brown then turn down the heat to a gentler setting.  The bacon should be cooked through but soft and not browned.
Add the sage and sausages to the saucepan and fry until the sausages are just browned, this should take approximately  5-7 minutes.
Remove the sausage, dice them into bite size pieces and set aside until needed.
Stir the flour into the pan and cook for 1 minute.  Gradually add the stock, stirring all the time and making sure there are no lumps.  Bring to the boil and season to taste with salt and pepper. 
Add the sour cream and stir.
Return the sausage back into the saucepan. Cover with a lid and cook gently for 20 minutes on a medium heat.
Cook the noodles in boiling water according to instructions and drain. 
Add the noodles to the casserole and serve immediately.  If the noodles stand for too long the casserole will become soggy.
The casserole can be transferred to an earthenware casserole dish for serving from the table.