Toad-in-the-hole recipe

We went to Newmarket on Saturday to meet some lovely friends. While we were there, we popped into a local butcher’s shop for a dozen Newmarket sausages. The Newmarket sausage has protected geographical status. Only three butchers currently make them, each to their own secret recipe.

Yesterday, I used up all the sausages in a toad-in-the-hole. The ‘toads’ are sausages; the ‘hole’ is Yorkshire pudding. Any kind of British linked sausage can be used, although I see no reason why coiled Cumberland sausage couldn’t be used. For a change, sausages from elsewhere in the world could be used, but they should be able to cope with being cooked in the oven.

Yorkshire pudding usually comes in individual portions, but a big one is made for toad-in-the-hole. The Yorkshire pudding is made from a batter which is interchangeable with pancake batter; having said that, I use more eggs for Yorkshire pudding than I do for pancakes. American pancake batter is probably unsuitable for this dish: partly because it’s sweet and partly because the sugar will likely burn in the high temperatures required.

Toad-in-the-hole

A hearty dish of sausage and Yorkshire pudding.

Course Main dish

Cuisine British

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 6

Equipment

• 1 roasting tin large enough to fit 12 sausages
• 1 whisk or electric mixer
• 1 mixing bowl

Ingredients

Yorkshire pudding batter

• 4 oz plain flour (4 dsp)
• ~1 tsp salt or to taste
• 4 eggs large
• 1/2 pint milk
• 3–4 tbsp animal fat lard, beef dripping or similar or a cooking oil with similar high smoke point, e.g. rice bran oil

Sausages

• 12 sausages

Instructions

Yorkshire pudding batter

• Place the flour and salt in a bowl and mix in the eggs.
  4 oz plain flour, ~1 tsp salt, 4 eggs
• Add the milk slowly at first, and whisk in either by hand or with an electric mixer.
  1/2 pint milk
• Leave to stand for 30 minutes.

Toad-in-the-hole

• Put the fat in an oven dish big enough to hold all the sausages with gaps between. I used a ceramic-type dish, but a metal one should work, too.
  3–4 tbsp animal fat
• You want to preheat the oven till it's good and hot, so stick it on full whack for gas and electricity. I set my fan oven to 230 ºC. That's 250 ºC or gas mark full whack in a traditional electric oven.
• When the fat is smoking hot, stick the sausages in and let them sizzle for a moment.
  12 sausages
• The fat will have cooled a little with the addition of the cold sausages, so put the dish back in the oven.
• When it’s smoking hot again, pour the batter over the sausages so it comes about half way up the sides of the sausages.
• Put the dish back in the oven for about 20 minutes, until the sausages are cooked and the Yorkshire pudding is golden.

Notes

The fat must be smoking hot so that the batter sizzles when it’s poured in.

The Yorkshire pudding recipe is based on James Martin’s grandmother’s recipe.

You can serve this with mashed potato, vegetables such as cabbage or carrots, and gravy. Roast potatoes or chips would work instead of the mash.