How to Prepare a Good Fast Meal

When is a pie not a pie? When most people think pie they think pastry, but, in actual fact, the term "pie" relates more to the shape of food rather than its components. Today's post includes an easy recipe to illustrate that.

Traditional Recipes Are Best
I have been collecting traditional British food recipes for many years. I have dog-eared old books whose spines are falling apart and hand written recipes passed down through the generations. Some of the meals described in these volumes reflect nutritional values that have little in common with today.

Do You Have to Sacrifice Nutritional Value to Eat Fast Food?
It is all too easy to pick up a ready-made meal pack at the supermarket. Pop it into the microwave and you'll be eating in minutes. But it isn't really necessary to swallow all those preservatives and dubious ingredients to enjoy fast food.

Sausage & Bean Pie
This simple but tasty recipe is adapted from a British recipe first published in 1929. It is a pastry-less pie that you can prepare in 5 minutes and be eating in 45 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 can Crosse & Blackwell Butter Beans
• 1 pack McWhinney's Irish Pork Sausages
• 1 Kg sliced, skinned tomatoes
• Salt & Pepper

Preparation

1. Drain the butter beans and spread over the bottom of a well-greased ovenproof dish
2. Spread a layer of sliced, skinned tomatoes over the beans
3. Skin the sausages and mash the sausage meat with some salt and pepper
4. Cover the tomatoes and beans with a layer of seasoned sausage meat
5. Moisten the top with water or a little liquid from the butter bean can
6. Cover the pie with a piece of greased parchment paper
7. Bake at 350degF for 45 minutes

This recipe was sent out to subscribers of Blighty's British Recipes mailing list this week. If you would like to receive our weekly traditional British recipes by email you can subscribe through this link: www.blightys.com/lists/?p=subscribe.