Toad in the Hole with Onion Gravy

Method

1. 1
   • wheat flour 150 g
   • egg 3
   • milk 2½ dl
   • salt 1 tsp

   Whisk and rest the batter — Whisk the flour with half the salt, beat in the eggs to a stiff paste, then let the milk down into it a splash at a time so no lumps form. You want a smooth batter about the thickness of single cream. Rest it at room temperature for 15 minutes.

   ⏱15 min
2. 2
   • sausage 8
   • vegetable oil 3 tbsp

   Roast the sausages in hot oil — Heat the oven to 220°C. Pour the oil into a metal roasting tin of about 20 x 30 cm, add the sausages and roast for 15 minutes, turning them once, until the oil is shimmering hot and the sausages have taken good colour.

   ⏱15 min
3. 3
   • sausage 8

   Bake the pudding tall — Pull the tin out, pour the batter around the sausages in one confident movement — it should hiss the moment it hits the fat — and slide it straight back in. Bake 28 to 30 minutes without opening the door, until the batter has climbed the sides of the tin and is deep gold and crisp.

   ⏱29 min
4. 4
   • onion 2
   • fresh thyme 1 tbsp
   • butter 20 g
   • white sugar ½ tsp
   • salt 1 tsp

   Caramelise the onions — Meanwhile melt the butter in a heavy frying pan and add the onions, sugar, thyme and a pinch of salt. Cook over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes and scraping the brown film off the base, until the onions are soft, sticky and genuinely dark — pale onions make thin gravy.

   ⏱20 min
5. 5
   • beef stock 4 dl
   • Dijon mustard 1 tsp
   • cornstarch 1 tbsp
   • salt 1 tsp
   • black pepper ½ tsp

   Thicken the gravy — Pour in the beef stock, stir in the mustard and bring to a simmer. Slake the cornstarch in a tablespoon of cold water, stir it in and simmer for 5 minutes until the gravy coats the back of a spoon. Season with the black pepper and the last of the salt.

   ⏱5 min
6. 6
   • sausage 8
   • onion 2

   Serve before it deflates — Cut the pudding into four squares, each with two sausages, and serve straight from the tin with the onion gravy poured generously over the top. It deflates fast, so get it to the table the moment it comes out.