Slow Cooker Recipe: Venison sausage and Puy lentil Stew

I got 2 copies of the same slow cooker recipe book for Christmas, just goes to show how well my nearest and dearest know me! I was able to use my holiday time productively and try out a few of the recipes from the book which all turned out really well.
The book is Ultimate Slow Cooker by Sara Lewis, published by Hamlyn.

I'm still trying to get over the disappointment that came from realising most of these recipes require you to "brown the meat" and "fry the vegetables" before adding them to the slow cooker - that shattered any naive illusions I had of this being a piece of wonder kit that toiled silently turning raw ingredients into delicious dishes. However delicious dishes have come forth from it and it also fills the house with a delicious aroma too. So, it's not all bad!

I chose this recipe to use up some Venison sausages I bought, reduced, in November and had stashed in the freezer. It also had a lovely festive feel with the cranberries and at this time of year I was easily able to buy fresh ones. The only snag to this recipe was getting hold of the Puy lentils: I had to send the other half on a special mission to Waitrose as our local Tesco doesn't stock them. However every cloud has a silver lining and through my search for the perfect (or correct!) lentil I've stumbled across the Merchant Gourmet website which I will be frequenting from now on...


Venison sausage and Puy lentil stew (I halved this recipe which worked fine)
Serves: 4
Cooking time: 6-7 hours
Cooking temp: Low

1 Tbsp Olive oil
8 Venison sausages
1 large Onion
2 Garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp Plain flour
900ml Chicken stock
3 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Tomato puree
2 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
200g Puy lentils
250g Cranberries, defrosted if frozen
2 Bay leaves
salt and pepper.

Method:
1) Preheat the slow cooker.
2) Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the sausages and cook on a high heat until browned all over but not cooked through. Transfer to a plate.
3) Add the onion to the pan and fry until lightly browned, add the garlic, then the flour.
4) Stir in the stock, sugar, tomato puree and vinegar, season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil.
5)Put the lentils, cranberries and bay leaves in the slow cooker pot, pour over the hot stock mixture and add the sausages.
6) Cover with a lid and cook on low for 6-7 hours.
7) Stir well then spoon into shallow dishes, discarding the bay leaves, serve with warm crusty bread or a selection of green vegetables.
I also stirred in a little redcurrant jelly as we had a jar open from Christmas, cranberry jelly/sauce would go well and just take the edge off the tart cranberries in the stew.

Enjoy!