Traditional Bangers And Mash Recipe

Bangers and mash is a traditional British recipe, although one of the main ingredients is something you won't find in every U.S. supermarket. Bangers, as recipe developer Catherine Brookes explains, are "a traditional British pork sausage [that] is typically made with a high percentage of pork meat and spices such as sage, onion, nutmeg, and pepper." The sausage gets its name from the fact that, during the bad old days of WWII food rationing, they were typically made with so much non-meat filler that they tended to explode when cooked. Occasionally Aldi will sell Irish-style bangers around St. Patrick's Day, but during the rest of the year, as Brookes notes, "The closest alternative typically found in the US would be a mild Italian sausage." Of course, there's no law against experimenting with other sausages such as spicy Italian, andouille, bratwurst, or kielbasa for a fusion-style take on this British dish.

This classic pub grub consists of more than bangers alone, of course. The "mash" part is simply mashed potatoes, while both sausages and spuds are typically covered with onion-flavored gravy, as is the case in this recipe. Brookes feels that "the combination of meaty pork sausage, creamy mash, and savory onion gravy is so delicious" and calls this meal "warming comfort food."

For the sausage component of this meal, you'll need sausages, plus some oil to cook them in. The mashed potatoes require potatoes, of course, plus some milk and butter. To make the gravy, you will also need an onion, garlic, a bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce, cornstarch, beef broth, salt, and pepper.

Brookes bakes the sausages for her bangers and mash, although some recipes call for pan-frying instead. To bake them, you'll preheat the oven to 400 F, then drizzle the sausages with 1 tablespoon of oil. Brookes likes to line her baking pan with parchment as she feels it helps to keep the sausages from sticking as she says British-style bangers are prone to do. No parchment on hand? You could use foil or simply grease the pan instead, or allow the fat to drain off the sausages by baking them on a wire rack. Cook the sausages for 40 minutes, but open the oven and turn them every 10 minutes to make sure that all sides brown evenly.

As the sausages cook, you can put on a pan of water to boil. Once it boils, add the potatoes and simmer them for 15 to 20 minutes. When they reach the point where you can stick a fork in them, drain the water out, then let the potatoes sit in the hot pan for 5 minutes. Brookes says this will allow them to steam in the residual heat. When the 5 minutes is up, pour in the milk, then add the butter and a little salt. Mash the potatoes until they are as smooth as you like your mashed potatoes to be.

Heat up the remaining oil over medium heat, then use it to fry the onions for 5 to 7 minutes to soften them. The garlic goes in next and cooks for just a minute (keep stirring), then the bay leaf, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce join the mix and cook for 2 minutes (don't stop stirring). Add the beef broth and simmer it for 3 minutes (you can stop stirring now), then mix the cornstarch with a tablespoon of water and stir that into the mix. (Resume stirring for 2 to 3 minutes until the gravy thickens.) Once the gravy is as thick as you like it, season it with salt and pepper, then pour it over the sausages and potatoes.

Brookes says that leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for three days, but admits the dish doesn't freeze too well. It is, however, quite easy to cut the recipe in half if you don't plan to consume all 4 servings within a few days.