Classic Toad in the Hole

Toad in the hole, what can I say? I had no real idea what it was when it came to British classics. I thought it was something like ‘pigs in a blanket’, which to me is a lovely little Polish sausage wrapped in a crescent roll. What British people think pigs in a blanket is, is a little cocktail sausage wrapped in bacon. While equally nice neither of these things are what I expected. When I looked into toad in the hole to make it on bonfire night it looked really good and interesting. More like a main course than an appetiser! It’s a lovely Yorkshire pudding batter poured over hot oil and sausages and baked. The texture is really great, it has a nice crunchy outside and a very lovely eggy soft middle by the sausage. I encourage anyone to try it, it’s so simple and makes an excellent economical meal! This serves just 2 only because I used 4 sausages, but you could easily use more sausages for this batter recipe. I adapted this recipe from several ones I read online so but my husband who is British gave it the stamp of approval! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
100g plain flour
1 scant tsp. English mustard powder
½ tsp. salt
2 eggs
250ml milk
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
4 lean pork sausages (you can use up to 8 sausages)
1 ½ tbsp. oil (anything except olive)

To start:
Heat oven to about 220C or 400-420F (really hot!)
Get the batter going by mixing the flour, salt and mustard powder. Mix around until combined.
Add in the eggs and half of the milk. Mix slowly until combined.
Pour in the rest of the milk and the thyme until all is incorporated. Set aside.

For the Sausages:
In a reasonably sized roasting tin, pour the oil in and lay the sausages out.
When the oven is hot, place them in for about 15-20 minutes, depending on how thick your sausages are. The goal is to half cook them before the batter.

To Finish:
When the sausages have cooked about 15 minutes, take the pan out and carefully pour over the liquid batter. Be very careful as the batter will splatter in the hot oil.
Cook for 30-40 minutes in the oven, and gauge doneness by the golden crispy crust.
Take out the glorious bake, and serve with some fresh onion gravy and steamed seasonal veggies. YUM!