Sausage and Mash with Beer & Onion Gravy
Comfort food at its best with a unique flavoured gravy of beer, star anise & cloves.
Serves 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Ingredients
12 good quality pork sausages
For the gravy
700g onions, sliced thinly
pinch sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
25g butter
1 tsp plain flour
600ml brown ale or a beer of your choice
600ml fresh beef stock
½ star anise
2 cloves
2 fresh bay leaves
Drizzle of Balsamic vinegar
For the mashed potatoes
900g floury main crop potatoes,
peeled and cut into chunks
55g butter
2-3 tbsp milk
salt and freshly ground black pepper
English mustard to serve
Method
1. To make the gravy, heat the oil and the butter in a large pan. Add the onions and sugar and cook over a low heat for 30-45 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and richly caramelised.
2. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Then stir in the beer, beef stock, star anise, cloves and bay leaves and boil until the gravy reduces to a rich, glossy sauce - about 20 minutes.
3. Add a drizzle of Balsamic vinegar, remove the star anise, bay leaves and cloves from the gravy and season to taste with some salt and pepper.
4. For the sausages and mashed potato, cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 20 minutes until soft.
5. Then after about 10 minutes, heat the oil for the sausages in a large frying pan. Add the sausages and fry them over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes, turning now and then, until nicely browned.
6. Drain the potatoes and mash until smooth - a potato ricer does this really well. Mix in the butter with some seasoning and enough milk to make a smooth, creamy mash.
7. To serve spoon the mashed potatoes onto 4 plates and rest the sausages alongside. Pour over some of the gravy and serve with a good spoonful of English mustard.