Come over for bangers and mash. 💬

Winter is waning, but it’s still comfort food season (when isn’t it?), and can you think of a more comforting dinner (or lunch) than bangers and mash? Oh wait, I can – baked bangers and baked mash.

You can make both of the above well ahead of time, keep them in the fridge, and reheat or cook them right before dinner. The end result is deeply delicious and familiar.

How nice would it be to get a text in the next couple of days from a friend saying, ‘Hey, what are you up to on Saturday night? Come over for bangers and mash?’ Be that friend. Send that text. Happy days.

Sophie x

These two recipes are pretty self-contained, all they need is a green salad or maybe some green beans tossed with lemon juice and some toasted almonds?

And for pudding, what about the hazelnut, chocolate and espresso cake from this post;

Or just get some nice ice cream and bash up some Maltesers to sprinkle on top, or put a bowl of mandarins on the table with another of nice chocolates?

Happy cooking, and here’s to bangers and mash with friends this weekend.

Sophie x

This is a classic, easy and deeply comforting sausage-onion-and-gravy situation and baked mash that you can make in advance and reheat when needed. It’s a great way to cook sausages because there’s no spitting or mess from the pan, and the end result is perfectly cooked sausages swimming in a deeply delicious gravy with fluffy baked mash.

You can also just make the onion gravy and skip adding in the sausages. It would be good with barbecued steak or sausages. If going down this path, I’d recommend thinning it out a little further (with extra stock or water).

Serves 6
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 1 ½ hours

For the sausages and gravy

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 brown onions, peeled and thinly sliced
¼ cup (35 g) plain flour
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
4 sprigs thyme, leaves picked
2 cups (500 ml) chicken stock
12 fat pork sausages (ideally from your butcher, seasoned with just salt and pepper)

For the baked mashed potato

1 kg floury potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks
100 g butter, plus extra for greasing
150 ml whole milk
1 cup (120 g) grated cheddar
½ cup (75 g) sauerkraut
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Place the peeled and chopped potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are completely tender, about 25 minutes. Tip into a colander to drain and leave to steam for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep-sided, ideally ovenproof frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring often so nothing sticks and burns, until caramelised, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, mash the potatoes until as smooth as possible, then stir in the butter, milk, three-quarters of the cheese, the sauerkraut and mustard. Transfer to a buttered baking dish (about 20 x 30 cm) and sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Set aside.

Once the onions are properly caramelised, add the flour and cook for a minute or so, stirring well. Add the mustard, thyme leaves and a cup of the stock. Stir well, incorporating everything into a paste, then keep stirring and adding the stock until you have a lovely thick gravy. Season with salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper.

Tuck the sausages in among the onion gravy; you want them to be about three-quarters submerged, so if you think the dish needs a little more liquid, feel free to top up with some water or stock. Pop the pan in the oven (or transfer to an ovenproof dish first). Put the dish of mashed potatoes in the oven at the same time and cook both for 35 minutes, or until the sausages are cooked through and the cheesy top of the mashed potatoes is lovely and golden.

More ‘come over for’ posts…