Spicy Sausage & Bean Cobbler

I'm loving my new cast iron casserole dish that I received as a Christmas present, yes I am one of the sad ones that asks for pots & pans instead of diamonds and pearls - you can take the girl out of the kitchen but you can't take the kitchen out of the girl. I'm using it as often as possible for a spot of one pot cooking and the husband doesn't even complain about washing it as nothing sticks to it, no matter how hard I try.

A family favourite in this household is sausage casserole and as the casserole dish can be used on both the hob and in the oven I decided to finish it off with some cheese topped scones on top - in hindsight I perhaps shouldn't have topped them with apricot stilton as the fruity bits burnt a little.

Spicy Sausage & Bean Cobbler - serves 4/5

1 tbsp Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
625g Good Quality Sausages (I used Chipolatas as Asda substituted my Cumberland sausages!)
1 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Mild Chilli powder
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
400g Can of tomatoes
410g can of Baked beans
300g can of Cannelini beans, drained
1 tbsp Tomato puree

Topping
250g SR Flour
1 tsp baking powder
60g Butter
70g cheese, grated (I used a mix of leftover Christmas cheese - mexican hot and white stilton with apricots) + extra for topping
pinch of dried rosemary (optional)
125ml milk + extra for brushing the tops

• Heat the oil in an ovenproof/stovetop dish & add the onion & garlic
• Fry gently for approx 5 minutes, until softened
• Cut the sausages each into 3 or 4 pieces
• Add the sausages to the pan & fry until browned off
• Add the paprika, chilli powder & cayenne & stir in
• Add the tomatoes, beans and tomato puree
• Stir well, place the lid on and simmer for around 20 minutes
• Make the scone topping by rubbing the butter into the flour
• Stir in the cheese & herbs and then the milk until the mixture comes together 
• Roll out onto a lightly floured surface to approx 2cm thick
• Using a 5cm cutter cut circles out
• Arrange the scones on top of the casserole and brush with milk and top with grated cheese
• Bake in a preheated 180 C oven for around 20 minutes, until the scones are lightly browned & cooked through