French sausage and bean stew

Ingredients
150 g dried haricot beans
1 tbsp olive oil
1 x 200 g pack lightly salted bacon bits
4 traditional pork sausages
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, finely sliced
1 bay leaf
2 vegetables or chicken stock cubes
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley

Method
Soak beans overnight in cold water. Drain, rinse, put in a pan and cover generously with cold water – bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in large frying pan over a medium heat. Cook the bacon and sausages for 6-8 minutes, until golden brown, then lift out the sausages and set aside.
Add the onions, garlic, carrot, celery and bay leaf to the pan. Sauté gently for 5 minutes then tip the mixture into the beans. Crumble the stock cubes into the pan and put in the whole sausages – add water, if necessary. Bring to the boil. Partially covet pan with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Lift the sausages from the stew and slice thickly. Return to the pan, stir in the parsley and serve.