Italian sausage stew with peppers and crunch croutons

There’s nothing more comforting than a big bowl of stew. My favourite way to eat it is with crunchy croutons that soak up all the juices and soften slightly – fantastico! Serves 4 1 ciabatta, cut into 2cm cubes 6tbsp olive oil 4 sprigs of thyme 1 red pepper 1 yellow pepper 2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced 2 rosemary stalks 10 Italian pork sausages 2 x 400g cans cherry tomatoes 100g pitted black olives in brine or oil, drained 5tbsp freshly chopped flat leaf parsley Salt and black pepper, to taste 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. 2 Put the ciabatta cubes on a baking tray. Drizzle over 2tbsp olive oil, season to taste and sprinkle over the thyme sprigs.

3 Toss everything together. Put in the oven for 15 mins until crispy.

4 Meanwhile, cut the peppers in half, discard the green stem, membrane and seeds, and roughly slice.

5 Put a medium saucepan over a high heat. Pour the remaining oil into the pan, add the garlic, peppers and rosemary, and fry for 13 mins, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. While the peppers cook, remove the sausage meat from the skins and make small meatballs. Set aside.

6 Pour the tomatoes into the saucepan with the peppers and bring to the boil. Add the meatballs to the sauce and cook for 13 mins, uncovered. Stir occasionally. Don’t forget to check the croutons!

7 Once the meatballs are cooked, season with salt and pepper, stir the olives and parsley into the stew, and serve with the croutons.