Cacciatore Sausage with Pearl Barley (by G)

Every time I go to the Queen Victoria market I eye off the giant sausage in one of the shop windows and wonder how much better my life could be if I owned one. This weekend just gone I decided to take the plunge. The butcher was very helpful (which is my first experience of that kind of attitude from a butcher). His recommendation was to prick the sausage a few times, boil it for 2 hours then slice and fry it. I did just that, though the filling was so gelatinous that the crispy surfaces got stuck to the pan.

As a side I boiled up some pearl barley in chicken stock (which I am oddly fond of despite the suspicion it may be a wanky foodie food) - then I added some slowly caramelised onions, diced carrots, parsnips and some cavolo nero (which I know is a wanky foody food).
The cacciatore was extraordinarily rich and sticky, and a bit of a pain in the ass to cook - it will not be something I will be cooking again myself anytime soon (except for the leftover bits I guess) but I would definitely hook in if someone else is willing to prepare it.