Autumn recipes: Sausage meatball toad in the hole with onion gravy

A simply-made, tasty batter surrounding bite-sized sausage meatballs, served with a rich onion gravy.

For the onion gravy

½ tablespoon olive oil

1 large red onion, halved and finely sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon fresh picked thyme leaves

500ml rich beef stock

1 tablespoon tomato puree

Freshly ground black pepper

For the batter

150g plain flour

2 large eggs

250ml whole milk

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon fresh picked thyme leaves

For the meatballs

340g your favourite sausages

1 tablespoon plain flour

Himalayan pink salt

White pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil (if necessary)

To make the gravy

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and cook until caramelised.

Add the fresh thyme leaves, stock and tomato puree. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes. This cooking time may seem excessive but is necessary to concentrate the flavours. Blend with a stick blender until smooth.

Taste the gravy and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Leave to one side.

To make the batter

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.

Put all the batter ingredients into a high speed blender and blend for 20-30 seconds. Cover and chill in the fridge until needed.

To make the sausage meatballs

Unravel the sausages and pinch off golf ball size chunks of the meat. With wet hands, roll into balls then roll in the seasoned flour to cover completely.

Put the sausage meatballs into a 23cm/9in round shallow baking dish and cook in the oven, on the middle shelf, for 10 minutes. Take out and give them a shake around. If the meatballs haven’t given off much oil add a tablespoon of olive oil to the dish and put back in the oven for another 5 minutes.

Open the oven door, pull out the shelf containing the baking dish and quickly pour the batter around the sausage meatballs. Try to keep them evenly spaced if possible, reposition them with a spoon if necessary. Carefully push the shelf back in and close the oven door. Cook for a further 25-30 minutes until the batter is puffed up, crispy and golden. The centre should look cooked, but be softer than the edges.

To serve, heat the gravy on a moderate heat until just bubbling. Cut a generous slice of the toad in the hole and serve on a plate with your choice of vegetables and the rich onion gravy poured over the top.

Find more of Beverley's recipes here. Follow her on Instagram @thelittlechelseakitchen for more inspiration.