SAUSAGE ROSTIS WITH CARAMELISED ONION GRAVY

Sausage and mash has always been a favourite of mine however I am not the hugest fan of mash unless it is mixed with cheese or mustard or truffles. However it is a classic dish that I will always order if I go to a pub for lunch. I was overjoyed when I found this recipe in my Olive magazine - I love a potato rosti - we used to have them at home as children from a German frozen food delivery company and I would want them with every meal. This recipe took around an hour.

Ingredients for 4 people:

Sunflower oil
8 sausages
4 large King Edward potatoes
3 sprigs of thyme, leaves stripped
2 tbsp grainy mustard
2 tsp English mustard powder
1 egg, beaten

Gravy
2 onions, thinly sliced
25g butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp plain flour
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Heat the oven to 180 C / fan 160 C / gas 4.

Brush 1 tbsp of oil over a shallow roasting tin, about A4 size, or a round ovenproof pan, about 20-22cm across. I was only doing the recipe for two of us and the dish I used was far too big - it didnt really matter to be honest - and just meant that my potato rosti was very thin!

Brown the sausages in 1 teaspoon of oil for 5 minutes or until golden.

Grate the potatoes, no need to peel them. I have never grated potatoes before and it was easier than I thought. Put them in a clean tea towel and squeeze out as much water as you can - the amount of water that came out really surprised me!

Add the potato to a bowl and mix in the thyme, 1 tablespoon of grainy mustard, 2 teaspoon of English mustard powder, the beaten egg, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper.

Tip into the roasting tin, brush a little oil over the potatoes and then add the sausages on top. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until the sausages and potato are crisp, golden and cooked through.

After about 15 minutes it is time to make the gravy. Put the onions and butter in a frying pan and cook gently until really soft and starting to caramelise - about 25 minutes.

Stir in the sugar and brown over a higher heat for a couple of minutes. 

Then stir in the flour, mixing it until it has completely blended in.

Gradually stir in the stock, followed by the remaining tablespoon of grainy mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a simmer and then reduce until it has a good consistency and season to taste.

Finally serve the potato rosti and sausages with plenty of delicious onion gravy.

Yum - this was really good - I loved the crispy potatoes and they tasted incredible with the sausages and lashings of onion gravy. Next time I would probably add some peas too. Arabella wasnt mad on the onion gravy but she adored the sausages and rosti so it was both adult and kid friendly - another success. It took a while to cook but it was definitely worth  the effort!

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CARAMELISED ONION GOATS CHEESE PISSALADIERE WITH BACON ROASTED PEPPERS

Whenever I see a French recipe in a magazine, I will normally cut it out and cook it for Pascal, just like I did here. A Pissaladiere is a pizza style tart from Nice in the South of France - traditionally it is a pizza style base topped with caramelised onions, garlic, olives and anchovies. Obviously we had to mix it up and involve cheese somehow!! Unfortunately little did I know Pascal doesnt like caramelised onions (and neither does Arabella) - whoops!

Ingredients for 4-6 people:

4 roasted red peppers (you can buy them in a jar or roast them yourself)
50g butter
4 red onions, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp Marmite
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
375g ready rolled puff pastry
8 rashes of smoked streaky bacon, chopped (you could probably use lardons instead)
150g goats cheese
Rocket leaves, Parsley or Basil, to serve

Melt 50g of butter in a frying pan and gently cook the onion and garlic over a low heat until they are soft and golden brown. This will take around 30 minutes. While these are cooking, preheat the oven to 180 C / 160 C(fan) / gas mark 4 and take the pastry out the fridge.

Then stir in the Marmite and thyme. The Marmite gives the onions a more meaty, richer taste.

Unroll the pastry onto a baking sheet (I used a dish) and prick all over with a fork.

Spread with the caramelised onions.

Then cut the peppers into strips and add them.

Scatter over with bacon and roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

Then add the goats cheese and cook for a further 10-15 minutes (you just need to make sure the bacon is cooked).

To serve scatter with some green leaves.

I really really liked this, even though I am not a Marmite fan, it added a great flavour to the onions which went brilliantly with the goats cheese, bacon and peppers. Unfortunately neither Pascal or Arabella were that enamoured with the recipe….Arabella even went so far to say it was the most revolting thing she had ever eaten…she did eat it though! The offending ingredient was the onions, so I will do this again for them but with a tomato base (more pizza than pissaladiere) or I will have to make it for fellow onion lovers like myself.

One thing I have realised is when I do rip these recipes out of magazines for Pascal, they are actually more for me than him ;-)

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