Toad in the hole can look like a pretty impressive and complicated dish, but it’s actually really easy to throw together with a bit of coordination. It’s also really hearty and warming, perfect for the cold evenings we’re starting to get.
(Serves 2 – or 1, you can use your leftovers the next day for lunch!).
Toad in the hole ingredients:
– 4 Linda McCartney vegetarian sausages
– 1 tbsp sunflower oil
– 90ml milk
– 70g plain flour
– 1 egg
– Pinch of salt
– Sprig of rosemary (optional)
Onion gravy ingredients:
– 1 medium onion
– 400ml vegetable stock
– 1 tbsp butter
– Pinch of sugar
– 1 tbsp plain flour
– 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar / red wine
Optional additions: Mashed potato, vegetables.
Method:
First, preheat the oven to 220C
Firstly, cook the sausages…
Put the oil in a small sized roasting dish and place the sausages in, evenly spread apart, and bake for ten minutes on a middle shelf until they start to brown.
Secondly, prepare the batter while the sausages are cooking…
Whisk the egg and the milk together, then add the flour and salt. The consistency should be smooth and runny, similar to single cream – add more milk bit by bit if you need to.
At this point, break up a sprig of rosemary into the batter.
Thirdly, add the batter to the sausages…
After the sausages have been in the oven for ten minutes, take the roasting tin out of the oven and turn them over. Then pour in the batter so that it surrounds the sausages but doesn’t cover them.
Immediately put it back in the oven, transferring it to a higher shelf, and let it cook for twenty – thirty minutes, most importantly until the batter is cooked through, risen and golden.
Now, prepare the gravy (and mash if you’re having it) …
Finely slice the onion and heat a heavy based saucepan with the butter. Prepare the stock.
Add in the onion and sprinkle with a little sugar and, letting it cook gently on a medium heat, stir occasionally until softened. This should take about ten minutes.
Stir in the flour and cook for one minute, then stir in the stock and balsamic vinegar or wine.
Bring the gravy to the boil then reduce the heat and leave it to simmer until it has thickened and until the toad in the hole is ready.
Lastly, taste and season appropriately and prepare and cook any vegetables…
We recommend tasty autumnal vegetables like carrot, celeriac and cabbage to go with your meal.
Enjoy!