SO here we are, about to slip from autumn into winter. It’s funny how our natural inclination is to eat according to the season.

In October, I don’t want the lighter, brighter food of the summer months any more – they just don’t do the trick; they aren’t quite sustaining enough.

Have you noticed that most of the food autumn has to offer just happens to come in autumnal colours - nuts, pumpkins, squashes, mushrooms, beetroot, Jerusalem artichokes, celeriac, parsnips, swede, turnips, apples, blackberries and so on.

Obviously sausages aren’t seasonal but they are one of the ultimate comfort foods and so go well with what we eat in the colder months.

They come in many different guises – beef, pork, venison, lamb and mint, merguez, which are red with harissa or chilli, spicy Italian with chilli and fennel seeds, Cumberland, Lincolnshire, French Toulouse… in fact most countries have their own sausage which in turn has its regional variations.

This is National Sausage Week which I suspect is designed to coincide with the onset of winter and Bonfire Night. So, the experts are telling us that this is the time to be enjoying sausages.

These days there are endless varieties readily available, so now seems a good time to start experimenting with different flavours. Most butchers make their own. My one tip would be to buy the best you can afford..

There are more ways to enjoy sausages than with the traditional mash. Think toad in the hole, with pasta, sausage and bean hotpot, taking them out of their skins and making into a giant sausage roll encased in puff pastry.

Or, in a casserole as in today’s recipe for sausages with Puy lentils and roast butternut squash. Be adventurous with the sausages you choose. I like using spicy Italian ones, Toulouse or just a good farmhouse variety.

:: Click here for today's recipe

Note to foodies – I am running an extra ‘Festive Allsorts’ demonstration on November 27 – delicious, elegant and well-presented supper, lunch and entertaining recipes, all of which are very easy, with as much advance preparation as possible. Inspirational ideas for the run-up to, and over Christmas. Not a sprout, turkey, chestnut or mince pie in sight - I promise! Full details at www.janelovett.com

Find lots more simple but contemporary recipes in Jane’s book Make it Easy, available from www.janelovett.com, bookshops and Amazon.

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