BANGERS AND MASH WITH CARAMELISED ONION GRAVY

There is something so comforting about a hearty plate of bangers and creamy buttery mashed potatoes with outstandingly gorgeous caramelised pan onion gravy.  The term bangers comes from Britains World War II when meat was so scarce more water was added to the sausage mix, during cooking they often would pop going BANG and exploded while cooking!  

This meal is very personal and I’m so proud that everything on this plate we grew, raised and produced from our family small holding and home garden.  Glorious 95% Herby Gloucestershire Old Spot sausages, loved and organically out door naturally reared, preservative free and seasoned with fresh thyme, sage, chives and marjoram from the garden with a hint of salt and fresh ground white pepper.  Served with rich buttery mashed potatoes and caramelised onion and sausage pan gravy.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking-oven time 40 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

8 local big bangers

(outdoor reared)

1 kg potatoes

1 large onion sliced

1 tsp sugar (optional)

1 tbsp olive or coconut oil

150g butter + 1 tbsp

1 tbsp white wine vinegar 

pinch of thyme

2 tsp corn flour

sea salt

fresh white pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees, lightly grease the bottom of a roasting tin and place the sausages in, place in the oven, these will take between 35-40 minutes to cook, turn half way through.  Meanwhile bring a large pan of water to a gently boil, peel the potatoes and halve, place in the boiling water and cook until fork tender approx 25-30 minutes, drain and return to the pan with the butter and white wine vinegar, mash and season with salt and pepper, leave on a very low heat to keep warm while you serve.  

At the same time as cooking the potatoes make the onion (poor man’s) gravy, on a medium heat fry the onions in a tbsp of butter, dash of olive oil and sugar until caramelised, for approximately the same amount of time it takes to boil the potatoes, once caramelised add 500ml of water and the thyme, bring up to a simmer, take the cornflour and mix with a tbsp of water, add to the simmering onions and stir until smooth, when you remove the sausages from the oven, add 50ml of water or white wine to the roasting tin, scrape around lifting off all the caramelised flavour from the cooked sausages and pour the cooking juices into the gravy, season with salt and pepper to taste and serve the mashed potatoes first, top with your gorgeous sausages and fabulous onion gravy, enjoy.