olive oil veggie toad-in-the-hole

… last Sunday The Viking was craving a traditional roast and whilst we have a lovely selection restaurants and pubs around here, sometimes he feels a little awkward having to ask to make sure that not only the plate is meat-free but that the roast potatoes aren’t cooked in goose-fat or that they don’t use beef dripping for their yorkshire puds… it’s a pain and then we always feel guilty asking so unless they specify we tend to eat Sunday lunch at home.  I don’t mind – you know I love to cook – but when the sun is blindingly bright and the house is already like an oven, the last thing I really fancy is standing in-front of a roasting tin, so I was quite surprised by myself that I agreed to cook… but I’m bloody glad I did… these were some of the best and to be honest, most simple toads in the hole i’ve made for an age and I think the fact that I used Quorn vegetarian sausages and some glorious Spanish extra virgin olive oil made the whole thing lighter and less fatty and heavy that your average Sunday roast.  Which is exactly why I wanted to share this classic with you today…

… my tip for perfect yorkshires actually comes from my client who shared with me recently her secret to perfect yorkshires.  There’s actually very little to it, she simply uses the same Delia Smith recipe that I have always uses except she always adds a second egg… it gives the pudding some extra puddingness and of course really helps with the lift!

olive oil veggie toad in the hole
I am a huge fan of olive oil and use it nearly all the time, partly out of laziness and partly out of the fact that I really love the taste.  I tend to cook and roast with regular olive oil although I do love using extra virgin on my roast potatoes as I think it adds such a wonderful nuttiness to them and of course all my salad dressings are made with extra virgin… of course the real secret to a good rise to yorkshire pudding is a very hot oven and very hot oil and if you know anything about EVOO then you know that it doesn’t like to get too hot so I also add a dash of plain vegetable oil to the pan and this seems to really help.

for the yorkshire pudding batter
150g plain flour
3 large, free-range eggs
150ml semi-skimmed milk
110ml cold water
salt and pepper

at least 5 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

6 vegetarian sausages – Quorn sausages are good as they’re a great consistency and hold together well during the roasting

you will need a large roasting dish.  I use a ceramic oven-proof dish but an enamel or metal tray would work just as well.

sift the flour into a large bowl, break the eggs into the flour and begin the beat them with a large balloon whisk, pour in the milk and water mix slowly, in a steady stream, beating as you pour until you have a batter the consistency of double cream – season and set aside

place the veggie sausages into the roasting tin, drizzle with a little olive oil to start and pop them into an oven on 180C for 15 mins – once they start to turn a little golden add 4 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, turn the oven up to 200C and let the oil heat up for 5 minutes, then when the oil is smoking hot pour the batter over and around the sausages

roast for 20 mins until the batter is risen and golden

n.b. toad-in-the-hole can also be eaten on a thursday…

eat and of course, enjoy!