Sausage, pepper and mushroom casserole

I know you are going to be put off by the long ingredients list so I will try to keep the description as short as possible!

Sausage, pepper and mushroom casserole
serves ~6

1 large onion, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, peeled and finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped

Sweat the above in butter and vegetable oil in a large casserole, adding each five minutes after the last, in that order.

6 large herby sausages, perhaps a mixture of lamb, pork and other meats, skins removed and cut into 1inch lengths
2 large packets mushrooms (any variety), wiped clean and roughly chopped into pieces of similar size to the sausage bits
2 or 3 peppers, de-seeded and chopped into rough large pieces also

Heat a film of oil in a large frying pan.  Fry the above in batches until some colour is added to each.  Remove to a plate if the vegetables in the casserole are still sweating, otherwise add straight to the casserole.  Don't stir frequently when browning as it will destroy the heat and slow things down.  Adding some salt to the mushrooms will help bring out the moisture.

1 large glass red wine
2 tins chopped tomatoes
Several sprigs of thyme
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tin chickpeas

Pour the wine in the frying pan over the heat once everything is fried.  Scrape the base to remove the nice browning residues (which are hopefully not burnt) then pour into the casserole along with all the other ingredients.  Add water so everything is just covered.  Bring up to a simmer, remove and discard any scum that forms, and cook for 25 minutes.  Easy!

PS I am working on a quick way to remove shells from tinned chickpeas... at present it involves draining and washing them, rubbing them all together in a tea towel, emptying into a deep bowl, filling the bowl with water then scooping and pouring off the top half of the water, hopefully along with most of the shells, and picking out the chickpeas from the bowl.  It doesn't get them all off, and it's not essential, but it's not that hard either.