Gluten-free toad in the hole

Toad in the Hole is in essence a thrifty supper, but you needn’t minimise your portions to make it stretch. You can pad a limited number of bangers out with more batter to serve the masses, or go for broke and stuff your hole with as many sausages as your dish can harbour.

I personally favour fat sausages (gluten-free, obviously in this case), baked in the oven solo until just browned, but not dark, before chucking them in the batter to bake again. Without pre-roasting the bangers, they can end up rather pallid and unimpressive, with only the exposed meat through the batter browning, while the rest boils in its own juices and remains as anaemic in colour as the inside of the Yorkshire pudding.

I used gluten-free Lincolnshire sausages from Mountain’s Boston Sausage. You don’t want any hip and trendy bangers in this dish. When it comes to Toad in the Hole, the more traditional the better. You can keep your chorizo or Scotch bonnet bangers for another day. This is a dish best kept simple.

When it comes to the batter, a wheat-free version is even easier, as there’s no need to rest the batter. The most important thing is to try to incorporate as much air into the mixture as possible while whisking, so that it will puff up and crisp around the edges. The easiest way to do this is with an electric hand whisk, but I never bother. A balloon whisk and a little bit of arm power are all you really need. Plus, it saves on extra washing up. I weigh all the ingredients straight into a measuring jug – there’s no need to sift the flour unless you particularly want to - before whisking by hand until the batter is about the thickness of pouring cream. And when it comes to cooking the batter, it’s essential that you heat the oil or dripping until super hot in your baking dish before adding the batter, to prevent your Toad becoming greasy.

I like to serve mine with onion gravy, peas or broccoli and a big dollop of Dijon mustard.