AI-generated image
Rougail saucisses
Smoked sausages in spicy tomato sauce
Rougail saucisses: Réunion's smoked sausages in a spicy tomato, ginger and onion sauce, with rice and beans
On Réunion Island, rougail saucisses is the everyday favourite cooked in a big cast-iron pot for family lunches, beach picnics and Sunday gatherings, and it is a pork dish built on smoked pork sausages. The sausages are blanched, browned, then simmered in a thick sauce of onions, ripe tomatoes, garlic, ginger, turmeric and fresh chilli until everything turns rich and slightly smoky. It is always served Creole-style with white rice and grains (red beans stewed with garlic and thyme) and, for those who like heat, a spoonful of fresh tomato-chilli rougail on the side. Chef's tip: blanch the sausages first; it removes excess salt and fat so the sauce tastes clean and bright.
- Total time
- 85 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the rougail
- 1 ¾ lb smoked pork sausages
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 3 onionsfinely chopped
- 1 oz fresh gingerpeeled
- 2 fresh red bird's eye chilliesor 1 for a milder sauce
- ½ tsp coarse saltfor pounding
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 ¾ lb ripe tomatoeschopped
For the beans (grains)
- 1 ¾ lb tinned red kidney beans2 tins, drained and rinsed
- 1 onionchopped
- 2 garlic clovescrushed
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 ¼ cups water
To serve
- 14 oz long-grain white rice
- 2 spring onions (optional)sliced
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (6)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/9 doneStep 1: Prick 1 ¾ lb smoked pork sausages, put them in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain and cut into 2 cm slices.
12 minStep 2: Pound 4 garlic cloves, 1 oz fresh ginger, 2 fresh red bird's eye chillies and ½ tsp coarse salt in a mortar (or blitz) to a rough paste.
Step 3: Heat 2 tbsp sunflower oil in a heavy casserole over a medium-high heat and fry the sausage slices for 8 minutes, until browned on both sides.
8 minStep 4: Add 3 onions and cook for 8 minutes, stirring, until soft and golden. Add the garlic-ginger paste and 1 tsp ground turmeric and stir for 1 minute until fragrant.
9 minStep 5: Add 1 ¾ lb ripe tomatoes and 3 thyme sprigs, stir well, cover and simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes, until the tomatoes have collapsed.
15 minStep 6: Uncover and simmer for 15–20 minutes more, stirring now and then, until the sauce is thick and the oil starts to separate at the edges. Don't add water: a watery sauce is the most common mistake with rougail. The sausages should reach 160°F in the centre.
20 minStep 7: Meanwhile, rinse 14 oz long-grain white rice and cook it in plenty of salted boiling water for 12 minutes, until tender. Drain.
15 minStep 8: For the grains, warm 1 tbsp sunflower oil in a pan over a medium heat and cook 1 onion and 2 garlic cloves for 5 minutes. Add 1 ¾ lb tinned red kidney beans and 1 ¼ cups water and simmer for 15 minutes, crushing a few beans to thicken.
20 minStep 9: Remove the thyme, taste the rougail for salt and serve with the rice and beans, scattered with spring onion.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 780 kcal
- Protein
- 32 g
- Carbs
- 82 g
- Fat
- 36 g
- Fibre
- 10 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does rougail saucisses take?
- About 85 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 65 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of garlic cloves?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Sandwich grecKebab baguette
In Paris, a "grec" is the late-night kebab sandwich named after the Greek-run shops that first sold it in the Latin Quarter. On rue de la Huchette and rue Saint-André-des-Arts near Saint-Michel, students queue after a night out for crusty bread or pitta stuffed with meat shaved from a turning spit, lettuce, tomato and onion, a garlicky white sauce, and, the Paris touch, a handful of fries pushed right inside. This home version marinates chicken thighs in spiced yoghurt, sears them hard and slices them thin, with oven fries. It contains milk, egg (in the mayonnaise) and wheat. Chef's tip: slice the meat thinly across the grain after resting; thick chunks don't feel like a grec.
Pfälzer SaumagenStuffed pig's stomach
Saumagen is the pride of the Palatinate, served at wine-village festivals and family dinners from the Haardt hills to Ludwigshafen. A cleaned pig's stomach is stuffed with diced pork shoulder, pork sausage meat, potato and carrot seasoned with marjoram and nutmeg, poached slowly, then sliced thick and fried until crusty. The stomach works only as a casing and is ordered from a butcher; if you can't get one, bake the same filling in a covered terrine in a water bath. Serve with sauerkraut and mashed potato. Chef's tip: fill the stomach only three-quarters full, or it bursts as the potatoes swell.
Pork souvlaki
This is a pork recipe. Walk through any Greek town after dark, from Athens to Thessaloniki, and the smell of souvlaki stands drifts down the street; cubes of pork shoulder grilled on thin skewers are the country's favourite cheap supper, eaten standing up or at a plastic-table taverna. At home you marinate the meat in lemon, olive oil, garlic and dried oregano, grill it hard and fast, and pile it on warm pitta with tzatziki, tomato and red onion. Chef's tip: cut the pork into even 2.5 cm cubes and leave a little fat on; lean loin dries out, shoulder stays juicy over high heat.




