Post Furlough Food/Student Food:Sausage Cassoulet

This is a quick, throw everything in the slow cooker/oven type of meal for when the nights are cold. It can be varied to add more ingredients and can be ready in the time it takes to bring to the boil if you are using leftover sausages. Easy peasy lemon squeasy which is what I wanted as homeschooling continues here with my youngest son not being at school due to worries about a "bubble" which is over 240 with teachers that move from bubble to bubble to teach during the day. This is barely supported with work from the school. Since furlough ended I have been on unpaid leave- which is brilliant of my employer as they recognise that they still need my skills when I am able to return to work but means effectively I am worse off than if I was on benefits! Nothing like the government forcing people like me with chronic illness to choose between health with poverty or risking your life but getting a wage. Never mind, rant over - back to the recipe which is a student favourite from years ago.  Never mind sliced bread, the baked bean was the best invention ever from the cheap instant nutritious food front and this is my favourite way of serving them in a recipe.  

Sausage Cassoulet Serves 4

Sausages - at least one each and can be any quality to suit your pocket, veggy sausages also work here.
Generic tin of baked beans in tomato sauce
Tin chopped tomatoes
onion, chopped
oil


Cook the onion in a little oil until soft. Grill the sausages if raw, then cut into chunks and add to the pan with all the remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes until everything is hot through.
Serve with rice, baked potatoes, noodles, homemade bread, toast, mashed potatoes or pasta as your fancy takes you.


Variations

Needless to say adding bulk will mean that the recipe can stretch to feed more than four.
On the sausage front use leftover cooked sausages to save using more fuel to cook these! At a pinch tinned hotdog sausages will do. (It makes a great camping recipe if you use all tins).  Frozen sausages that have been cooked also work - this can be cheaper per sausage than mid-range fresh ones.
leftover meat from roast
Crushed garlic
a sprinkle of herbs such as oregano or dried mixed herbs
a spoonful of marmite (trust me it works!)
mustard to taste
chilli powder or chopped fresh chilli to taste
Chopped fried bacon (cooking bacon is the cheapest option here)
if you don't have generic baked beans (which is the cheapest option) then any cooked pulses will do- but they must be cooked, drain any water first and add a squirt of tomato puree to the cassoulet to make up for lack of ready made tomato sauce.  Adding another tin of beans is the best way to instantly bulk out the portion size and if you add a different type of bean it instantly adds more variety
Cooked leftover veggies/tinned veggies of any variety/frozen veggies but leave to simmer until these are cooked

Cost for the basic ingredients works out less than £2 for four people (i.e. 50p a portion) if you use pasta as your carb of choice (27p for 500g use 75 g per person) and mid range sausages (£1.40 for 8), of course if you have to you can do better than that cost wise!