Sweet cherry tomato and sausage bake

Once again, this is a recipe to use up the tomatoes growing in my summer garden. Its from Jamie Oliver and has the benefit of being able to prepare ahead and being a 'one tray bake' meal.

I added a few extra herbs and vegetables that I had in the garden...basis, fresh oregano, thyme, rosemary, bay and peppers/capscium and leeks.


I served it with baked potato - they cooked in oven at the same time and sweetcorn - the last of the season.
If you are cooking baked potatoes, put them in the oven at the same time as the tray first goes in.

Ingredients

• 2 kg lovely ripe cherry tomatoes , mixed colours if you can find them
• 2-3 Capscium chopped 
• 2-3 spring onion chopped
• 2 red onion chopped 

• 2 sprigs fresh thyme

• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary

• 2 sprigs fresh bay

• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

• 3 cloves garlic , peeled and chopped

• 12 higher-welfare Cumberland or coarse Italian pork sausages (I used some chicken and some beef)

• extra virgin olive oil

• balsamic vinegar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C
2. Get yourself an appropriately sized roasting tray, large enough to take the tomatoes in one snug-fitting layer. Put in all your tomatoes, capscium, onion and spring onion, the herb sprigs, oregano, garlic. Drizzle well with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Toss together. Bake for about an hour.
3. Add the sausages are on top and pop the tray into the oven for half an hour. After this time, give it a shake and turn the sausages over. Put back into the oven for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on how golden and sticky you like your sausages.
4. Once it’s cooked, you’ll have an intense, tomatoey sauce. If it’s a little too thin, lift out the sausages and place the tray on the hob to cook it down to the consistency you like – I tend to make mine quick thick – then put the sausages back in.
5. Check the seasoning and serve either with a good-quality loaf of bread warmed through in a low oven for 10 minutes (great for mopping up the sauce!) or with mashed potato, rice or polenta, a green salad and a nice glass of wine.