Preheat and prepare the dish: Set your oven to 190°C (170°C fan) or Gas Mark 5. Drizzle a little olive oil into your 9x13 inch baking dish and spread it around with a pastry brush or your fingers — you want a light coating to prevent sticking.

Brown the sausages: Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the turkey sausages and cook for 6-8 minutes, turning occasionally, until they are golden brown on all sides. You'll know they're ready when you hear a satisfying sizzle and the skins feel taut and glossy. Remove them to a plate — they don't need to be cooked through, just nicely coloured.

Sweat the aromatics: In the same pan (don't wipe it clean — that browned residue is pure flavour), add the remaining oil and tip in the sliced onions. Cook for 5 minutes over a medium heat, stirring now and then, until they soften and turn translucent. The sound should be a gentle, quiet hiss. Add the sliced garlic and cook for another minute — the fragrance will shift from sharp to sweet and nutty.

Build the sauce: Stir in the tomato purée and cook for one minute, scraping up any sticky bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. The purée will darken and smell intensely rich. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and chicken stock, then add the dried oregano, smoked paprika, fennel seeds (if using), and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Let the sauce bubble gently for 3-4 minutes — it should thicken slightly and turn a deep, brick-red colour.

Layer the peppers and sausages: Arrange the sliced bell peppers in an even layer in the bottom of your prepared baking dish. Nestle the browned sausages among the peppers, then pour the tomato sauce evenly over the top. Use a spoon to ensure every pepper and sausage gets a little coating — the sauce will look generous, but that's exactly what you want.

Bake to perfection: Cover the dish loosely with aluminium foil and place it in the preheated oven. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes. You're looking for the sauce to be bubbling vigorously around the edges, the peppers to be tender and slightly charred at the tips, and the sausages to be cooked through — a skewer inserted into the centre should feel hot and the juices should run clear. The smell at this point is almost unbearable: sweet, smoky, and deeply savoury.

Rest and serve: Let the bake sit on the counter for 5 minutes before serving. This allows the juices to settle and the flavours to meld. Scatter over the fresh parsley or basil just before bringing it to the table, so the herbs stay bright and fragrant.