Bangers and Mash
You know you’ve stepped, wrapped up in your cosy fleece, into November when you start making comfort food!
I have my niece and her boyfriend staying with us for the Fires and before I packed them off to meet my husband to watch the Castellers (human towers) on a mild but still chilly November evening I wanted to make sure they had some fuel.
What better than bangers and mash Catalan style. I used botifarri which is a big fat herby, slightly peppery, rich pork country sausage (wow that was a mouthful of a description!) and cooked them in the oven. Whilst they were cooking I peeled two large Spanish onions and sliced into medium chunks and fried until soft and caramelised, that’s the trick to getting the sweetness out of them, then deglazed the pan with stock and made a rich pork gravy. Once the sausage were nicely browned and cooked through I put them into the gravy and let them bubble away so they got nice and sticky.
Now the mash, which for me has to be as rich as the other components, once boiled and mashed I add an egg, a good and generous knob of butter and splash of cream and whip with my masher until they are light and fluffy.
To compliment the whole dish I heat some petit pois and crush with a little mint just to add a tasty tang.
You can jiggle this recipe around to suit your taste or to ring the changes. There are so many different types of sausages a spicy Cumberland, a pork and apple, which would go nicely with an onion and apple gravy, cook the onions with slices of peeled apple in cider and stock.
A posher stockpot version. I will brown the sausage place in the stockpot with peeled and whole shallots, stock, a dash or two of balsamic, a spoonful of honey and a splash of red wine and let it cook slowly all day, thickening at the end and adding herby dumplings 20 to 30 minutes before serving. Serve with buttered cabbage and cheddar or garlic mash.
The original recipe for the above image from House and Garden (yes I forgot to take pictures of mine before we had eaten it all) is in the link here
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