Christmas Toad in the Hole

What do you get when you cross pigs in blankets with toad in the hole? An ideal dinner for the festive season to hunker down with or serve to visiting friends and family.

This recipe can easily be made vegetarian by swapping out the pigs in blankets for vegetarian equivalents and using vegetable stock instead of chicken in the gravy.

For this recipe you will need a 23x33cm/9x13in roasting tin with deep sides.

Ingredients

Serves Six

175g/6oz plain flour, sifted
4 large free-range eggs
300ml/½ pint full-fat milk
2 tsp Dijon mustard
6 rashers smoked streaky bacon
12 chipolata sausages
4 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
2 onions, peeled and cut into wedges
200g/7oz sage and onion stuffing, rolled into 8 balls
200g/7oz Brussels sprouts, trimmed
2 small-medium leeks, trimmed and cut into 1–2cm/½–¾ thick slices

For the gravy

25g/1oz butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, sliced
1 tsp chopped thyme leaves
1 tbsp plain flour
500ml/18fl oz good-quality chicken stock
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve

cranberry sauce

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
2. First make the Yorkshire pudding batter. Sift the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Beat the eggs and milk together, pour into the bowl and mix with a balloon whisk until smooth. Add the mustard and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside to rest while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
3. Stretch out each bacon rasher to increase the length by about one third. Cut each rasher in half and wrap around each chipolata.
4. Heat 2 tablespoons sunflower oil in a large roasting tin, add the pigs in blankets, onion wedges and stuffing balls and cook for 20 minutes until starting to turn golden brown.
5. Meanwhile, make the gravy. Heat the butter and olive oil in a sauté or frying pan. Add the sliced onions and chopped thyme. Cook over a medium heat until the onions are tender and starting to brown at the edges. Add the plain flour, stir well and cook for a further 30 seconds. Slowly pour the stock into the pan, stirring constantly, and bring to the boil.
6. Lower the heat and simmer gently for about 10 minutes until smooth and thickened slightly. Add the Worcestershire sauce and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.
7. When the sausages have cooked for 20 minutes, add the sprouts and leeks to the roasting tin along with the remaining 2 tbsp oil. Return to the oven for 5 minutes until the vegetables are starting to soften.
8. Working quickly, remove the roasting tin from the oven and pour the Yorkshire batter around the sausages, stuffing and vegetables. Return to the oven for a further 20–25 minutes until the batter is puffed and golden brown.
9. Serve with the onion gravy and cranberry sauce on the side.

From an original idea here

Recipe Tips/Suggestions
i) It's important not to overcrowd the tin as it will prevent the Yorkshire pudding from rising properly. A larger tin will still work, but if you only have small tins it would be better to use two tins than overcrowd one.

ii) You may also like to see this alternative lower carb recipe for toad in the hole here

iii) there is also a Root vegetable toad-in-the-hole recipe here

You can read more about the history of toad in the hole here

You will find a variety of recipe ideas within this blog, and not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter. If you have any concerns about your health, it is always advisable to consult your doctor or health care team.

All the best Jan