Toad In The Hole

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Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 40

Total Time: 1

Calories: 906kcal

Servings: People

Metric - Imperial

Ingredients

Toad In The Hole

160 g Plain (All Purpose) Flour
4 Large Eggs
220 ml Semi-Skimmed Milk
6 Large Pork Sausages
37.5 ml Vegetable Oil
Seasoning To Taste

Onion Gravy

4 sprigs Thyme Bouquet Garni
1 sprig Rosemary Bouquet Garni
1 leaf Sage Bouquet Garni
45 g Unsalted Butter Cubed
2 Red Onions Sliced
6 g Granulated Sugar
125 ml Dry Red Wine
500 ml Beef Stock
10 ml Worcestershire Sauce
5 g Dijon Mustard
15 ml Balsamic Vinegar
10 g Cornflour Cornstarch
15 ml Cold Water
28 g Unsalted Butter Cold

Method

In a bowl, add the flour and eggs and whisk to combine. Pour in the milk and whisk until smooth — some lumps are okay. Store in the fridge for 1 hour up to 24 hours; for best results, rest overnight.
Preheat the oven to 220°C (430°F).
Add the vegetable oil and sausages to a large baking dish or roasting pan with high sides. Bake for 15 minutes, flipping once, until browned all over.
Remove the batter from the fridge and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Remove the baking dish from the oven and place on a wire rack or heatproof surface. Pour over the cold batter, making sure the sausages are spread evenly. Immediately return to the oven and bake for 22–25 minutes, until fluffy, crispy, golden, and the sausages reach an internal temperature of 71–74°C (160–165°F). Serve with onion gravy and dig in.
Tie the thyme, rosemary, and sage into a bouquet garni with kitchen string. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sugar, then cook, stirring often, for 30 minutes, until caramelised.
Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the wine and bouquet garni, then bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes to reduce the wine. Add the beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard, and season to taste. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15–20 minutes, until it coats the back of a spoon. Remove and discard the bouquet garni.
Whisking constantly, add the balsamic vinegar and cornflour slurry. Simmer, whisking constantly, for another minute until thickened. Add the cold butter and whisk to incorporate. Season to taste, adding more mustard if desired.

Chef's Tips

Make sure the batter is properly cold and the fat in the pan is properly hot before they meet — that contrast is what makes the batter puff up dramatically instead of sitting flat, so don't let the dish cool down while you're getting the batter out of the fridge.

Resist opening the oven door during the 22–25 minute bake — a Yorkshire pudding batter is sensitive to temperature drops and can collapse if the oven is opened too early.

Let the onions go the full 30 minutes over medium heat, stirring often rather than constantly — rushing this with higher heat will brown them instead of caramelising them, which changes the flavour of the whole gravy.

Storage & Reheating

Refrigerate the toad in the hole for up to 2 days, and the onion gravy separately for up to 4 days, in airtight containers. The baked batter doesn't freeze well — it loses its crisp, risen texture on thawing — so freezing isn't recommended for that component; the gravy, however, freezes fine for up to 3 months.

To reheat, warm the toad in the hole in the oven at around 180°C (350°F) for 10–15 minutes to re-crisp it — a microwave will leave it soggy and deflated. Reheat the gravy separately in a saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until hot.

Serving 385gCalories 906kcalCarbohydrates 46gProtein 35gFat 62gSaturated Fat 27gPolyunsaturated Fat 14gMonounsaturated Fat 32gTrans Fat 1gCholesterol 368mgSodium 1485mgPotassium 1098mgFiber 2.3gSugar 9gVitamin A 723IUVitamin C 8mgCalcium 157mgIron 6mg