Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s tasty toad in the hole
It’s a real family favourite and perfect for those chilly Autumn evenings - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s making his version of toad in the hole with added onions and apples, delicious alongside his homemade gravy.
Toad in the hole
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
6 large butcher’s sausages
6 shallots, peeled, or 2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
2 medium eating apples, cored and quartered
About 12 pitted prunes (or dried apricots)
1 tsp English mustard
About 2 tsp roughly chopped sage, plus a few extra whole leaves (optional)
For the batter:
75g plain white flour
75g fine plain wholemeal flour
3 medium eggs
200ml whole milk
Sea salt and black pepper
Method
1. Meanwhile, toss the apple pieces and prunes (or apricots) with the mustard, chopped sage if using, and some salt and pepper.
2. Re-whisk the batter – it will probably have thickened up a little, in which case, whisk in 1–2 tbsp milk or water to just ‘let it down’ a touch.
3. Take the roasting tin out of the oven and turn the sausages over.
4. Arrange the prunes and apples around and between the sausages and onions, scatter in the whole sage leaves if you have some, then quickly pour in the batter and get the whole thing back in the oven pronto.
5. Bake for about 25 minutes until the batter is risen, crisp and golden.
6. Serve the toad-in-the-hole straight away, with buttered steamed greens, and gravy if you like.
Gravy
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
About 100g dark-coloured mushrooms, such as chestnut or open-cap, roughly chopped
200ml red wine or dark beer
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 medium carrot, scrubbed or peeled and sliced
1 celery stick, roughly chopped
1 tsp fine plain wholemeal flour
About 500ml light vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
A large sprig of thyme (optional)
1 tbsp strong coffee, such as espresso
1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
Sea salt and black pepper
Method
1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wide, heavy pan over a high heat. Add the mushrooms and fry ‘hard’ for 6–7 minutes, without stirring, until they start to develop some good brown colour. After that, you can stir from time to time: keep cooking until the mushrooms are a rich dark brown. Use a wooden spatula to loosen any bits sticking to the base of the pan from time to time.
2. Tip the mushrooms into a bowl, then add a splash of the wine or beer to the pan, scraping to deglaze it as it simmers. Add this liquor to the mushrooms.
3. Give the pan a wipe and add the remaining 1 tbsp oil. Toss in the onion, carrot and celery and sizzle pretty hard until the veg are well browned (almost a bit burnt).
4. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes. Add another splash of wine or beer, giving the pan a good stir-and-scrape with a spatula.
5. Stir in the stock, remaining wine or beer, and the herbs. Bring to a simmer and cook for a few minutes to make sure the veg are tender.
6. Add the coffee and tamari/soy and return the mushrooms to the pan.
7. Take off the heat, discard the herbs and tip the contents of the pan into a blender. Blitz thoroughly until smooth, then pour into a small pan and reheat gently, adding a little extra stock or water to get a pouring consistency.
8. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve the gravy straight away or cool and refrigerate until needed (it also freezes really well).