Amanda Owen's toad in the hole with a twist!
After kicking things off with her delicious starter last week, today our Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen is moving onto the main course. She’s heading to stunning Cumbria to visit a watermill which has been making flour since medieval times, before heading back home to make her toad in the hole with a twist.
Roast vegetable toad in the hole
Serves 4
Prep time 10 minutes, plus 1 hour chilling
Cooking time 50 minutes
Ingredients
Batter
210g plain flour
6 medium eggs
300ml full fat milk
Small bunch fresh Rosemary
Small bunch fresh thyme
Roast vegetables
2 medium red onions, cut into wedges
2 carrots, peeled and cut into batons
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into batons
2 medium beetroots, peeled and cut into wedges
3 tbsp vegetable oil
Black pepper
Method
1. Place the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre then stir in the eggs to form a thick paste. Pour in the milk and beat with a whisk until smooth.
2. Remove the Rosemary and thyme from the stalks and roughly chop then stir through the batter. Pour the batter into a jug, cover and transfer to the fridge and chill for at least an hour.
3. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas 6. Put the onion wedges, carrots and parsnips and beetroot in a medium non-stick roasting tin (approximately 32cm x 22cm). Drizzle over half the oil, season with black pepper and toss well to ensure the vegetables are evenly coated. Roast for 25 minutes then remove from the tin and set aside.
4. Increase the temperature to 220C/200C Fan / Gas 7 and drizzle the remaining oil into the roasting tin and heat in the oven for about 10 minutes until very hot.
5. Give the batter a very gentle stir to distribute the herbs evenly through the batter, remove the tin from the oven. Quickly and carefully pour the batter into the heated tin then arrange the vegetables evenly on top. Bake for 25-30 minutes until well risen and browned.
6. Serve with onion gravy.
Onion gravy
Serves 4Prep time 5 minutes
Cooking time 40 minutes
Ingredients
30g butter
1 tbsp Yorkshire rapeseed oil
2 large red onions, halved and sliced
2 sprigs thyme
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp plain flour
500ml vegetable stock, hot
2 tsp Henderson’s relish
Black pepper
Method
1. Gently melt half of the butter and the rapeseed in a pan then add the onions, thyme and sugar and cook over a low heat for 30-35 minutes until the onions have caramelised.
2. Add the remaining butter and when melted sprinkle over the flour and mix well so that the onions are coated then simmer over a low heat for a minute to cook out the flour.
3. Next stir in the stock, making sure that there are no lumps, bring to the boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes until the gravy thickens.
4. Stir in the Henderson’s relish and season to taste.