British · Pork

Toad in the Hole

Sausages baked in a tall, crisp-edged Yorkshire pudding, served with onion gravy. A spoonful of mayonnaise in the batter helps it rise higher and collapse less.

Serves

Prep15 min

Cook40 min

Ingredients

700 g (1.4 lb) pork sausages (8 × 85 g / 3 oz), or other sausages
10 g (2 tsp) beef dripping, or canola or vegetable oil, for browning
50 g (¼ cup) beef dripping, or canola or vegetable oil, for the pan

For the Yorkshire pudding batter

250 ml (1 cup) eggs, lightly whisked (4–5 large eggs; measure them)
130 g (1 cup) plain flour
185 ml (¾ cup) full-fat milk
60 ml (¼ cup) water
1 tbsp full-fat mayonnaise
½ tsp cooking salt
Pinch of white pepper

For the onion gravy

30 g (2 tbsp) beef dripping or unsalted butter
2 onions, halved and cut into 7 mm (¼ inch) wedges
1 garlic clove, finely minced
3 tbsp plain flour
500 ml (2 cups) low-sodium beef stock
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp cooking salt
½ tsp MSG

Tick things off as you go. Tap an ingredient's name to see where it's used.

Method

Toad in the hole

For the batter, whisk the eggs in a bowl, then whisk in the flour until lump-free. Whisk in the water, milk, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Refrigerate until needed.
Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan / 425°F / gas 7). Put the 50 g dripping in a 23 × 33 cm (9 × 13 inch) metal pan and heat it in the oven for 15 minutes, until melted and very hot.
Heat the 10 g dripping in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Brown the sausages all over, keeping one side only lightly browned (it browns more in the oven) and the insides raw. Set aside on a plate.
Whisk the batter again. Working quickly, take the hot pan out of the oven and arrange the sausages in it, lightly browned side up, keeping them clear of the pan's walls so the pudding can puff up the sides. Pour the batter in around them.
Bake on the top shelf for 25 minutes, until the sides are puffed, golden and crisp.
Serve straight away with the onion gravy. Expect a little deflating.

Onion gravy

Melt the dripping in the pan used for the sausages over high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring constantly, until nicely browned, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add the flour and stir for 1 minute so it's mixed through the onions, for a lump-free gravy.
Slowly pour in the stock, stirring as you go. Add the Worcestershire sauce, MSG, salt and pepper.
Bring to a simmer, stirring, for 2 minutes until it thickens into a gravy. Keep warm until ready to serve.

From our kitchen

Good to know

Use regular-sized sausages: giant ones cover too much of the Yorkshire pudding.
Measure the eggs. Egg sizes vary and the batter needs exactly 250 ml.
Beef dripping is the traditional fat for its flavour and high smoke point; duck fat, goose fat or lard also work. Otherwise use oil for the batter and sausages and butter for the gravy.
The same batter makes 12 Yorkshire puddings: 1 tsp dripping heated in each hole, baked for 17 minutes.
For a darker gravy, add ½ tsp dark soy sauce.
Leftovers keep for 3 days, though the pudding softens. Re-crisp at 180°C for about 7 minutes.

Based on recipetineats.com