Sausages With Mashed Potatoes, Beer And Onion Gravy And Mustard

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 8 links lamb sausage
• english mustard, to serve
• 1 1/2 lbs onions, sliced thinly
• 1 pinch sugar
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 1 ounce butter
• 1 teaspoon plain flour
• 2 1/4 cups brown ale
• 2 1/4 cups beef broth
• 1/2 star anise
• 2 cloves
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 2 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 ounces butter
• 2 -3 tablespoons milk
• salt and pepper

Recipe

• 1 to make the beer and onion gravy, heat the oil and the butter in a large, heavy based saucepan.
• 2 add the onions and sugar and cook over a low heat for 45 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and richly caramelised.
• 3 stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
• 4 stir in the beer, beef broth, star anise, cloves and bay leaves and boil vigorously until reduced to a rich, glossy sauce - about 20 minutes in a large sauté pan.
• 5 remove the star anise, bayleaves and cloves (if you can find them) from the gravy and season to taste with some salt and pepper.
• 6 for the sausages and mashed potato, cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 20 minutes until soft.
• 7 then after about 10 minutes, heat the oil for the sausages in a large frying pan.
• 8 add the sausages and fry them over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes, turning now and then, until nicely browned and cooked through.
• 9 drain the potatoes and mash until smooth - a potato ricer does this really well.
• 10 beat in the butter with some seasoning and enough milk to make a smooth, creamy mash.
• 11 spoon the mashed potatoes onto warmed plates and rest the sausages alongside.
• 12 pour over some of the gravy and serve with a good spoonful of english mustard.