I really should do a blog about the progress of my allotment as if I do say so myself, it’s coming on grand! One of the biggest triumphs is our sprouts which have supplied us with a bounty of the sweet little buggers. We’ve got a glut, even after Christmas but they are all going to get used, I’m going to freeze my surplus.
But tonight, my missus suggested we revisit a recipe from Marcus Wareing’s book, sausage and mash pie, and pan fried sprouts for a crunch. The pie basically is a lovely swirl Cumberland sausage (bought from The Northumbrian Sausage Company who, apart from our local butcher, is the supplier of our meat related products) onion gravy and piped mash spuds on the top, finished off with grated cheese. The sprouts are pan fried in garlic and Soy sauce, leaves them crunchy and not boiled to death.
First, fry off the sausage in a pan caramelising nicely. Put them to one side in an baking dish and crack on with the mash. I’m still using my spuds from the allotment which are Maris Pipers and mash really well. All I do with them is peel and boil in salted water, then mash with a good old dollop of Olive spread, no milk or cream, just elbow grease, plus seasoning with salt and ground black pepper. Put to one side.
For the gravy, slice a large onion thinly and fry off in a pan. Add about 200ml of beef stock, tablespoon of plain flour and a good splash of Worcestershire Sauce and 2 finely chopped garlic cloves. Fry until all mixed together, adding water or more stock for personal consistency. Pour the gravy around the sausage in the baking dish and either spread or pipe the mash over the top covering evenly. I should’ve said I used 4 decent sized spuds for this! Preheat my fan oven to 200’c and put oven dish into top of oven for about 20 minutes, shouldn’t take much longer.
Grab a hand full of cleaned sprouts and half, fry off in a pan with the Soy sauce and garlic for as long as you want, obviously too long they’ll burn but if you keep and eye on them till caramelised they still have a crunch.
I’ve made some changes to chef Wareing’s recipe and I have no doubt his would definitely be more of a pleasant experience on the dinner plate, but I hope this version will make good eating.
Northern Hiker 