Nigel Slater’s recipes for sausages and black-eyed beans, and mint frozen yoghurt

Straddle the seasons with warming beans and cooling minty ice

Easter, whether early or late, is the point at which my cooking changes step. The lidded earthenware casseroles are put away until autumn; the jars of beans in the larder are moved to the top shelf – almost too high to reach – and slow cooking is swapped for suppers that take a few minutes on the grill. The last few days before Easter is when I make a deep casserole of beans, onions and sausages – the final big casserole, with which to wave goodbye to winter-spring.

Of all the jars of beige pulses on the larder shelves, it is black-eyed beans which are the most infrequently used, though I’m not quite sure why. Much as I enjoy the slow-food ritual of soaking dried beans overnight and cooking them from scratch with bay leaves and onion, I am more likely to choose a tinned or bottled variety for a weekday dinner.