Garrett’s Bangers and Mash

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Bangers and mash, is a common British dish consisting of sausages (“bangers”) and mashed potatoes (“mash”). And is traditionally served with onion gravy.

Bangers and mash is a staple of the country’s overall cuisine and is a popular pub dish. The term bangers supposedly originated during World War I, when meat shortages resulted in sausages’ being made with a number of fillers, notably water, that caused them to explode when cooked.

The sausages may be pork, beef, or lamb, but one of the most traditional meat sticks is Cumberland sausage, a coiled pork sausage from northwestern England.

This is a traditional recipe that we’ve tweaked just a little to our own Americanized taste.

Preparation Time: About 1 to 1½ hours
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 pound beef sausage
• 4 to 6 large potatoes
• ½ cup chopped/diced onion
• ½ cup milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 package dry brown gravy mix
• 1 can Peas & Carrots
• 2 teaspoons butter
• ¼ tspn salt
• ¼ tspn pepper
• Paprika

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350° F

Potatoes:

• Peel potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes.
• Place potatoes in a saucepan with enough water to cover them all. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 20 minutes.
• Drain, and mash the potatoes with 1 teaspoon of butter and the milk.
  Continue adding small amounts of milk to reach the level of creaminess you desire.
• Mash potatoes until texture is smooth.
• Add salt and pepper to the potatoes to your desired taste. Then set aside.

Beef:

• In a deep dish skillet cook the sausage over medium heat until brown throughout.
• Remove from skillet and set aside.

Remaining Ingredients:

• In the same skillet, melt the other teaspoon of butter and add the chopped onion. Saute until tender.
• Drain the peas and carrots and add them to the onions.
• Mix gravy as directed on the package using warm water.
  If the directions call for you to cook the gravy, don’t do that. Just mix the gravy.
• Add the gravy to the skillet with vegetables. Simmer, stirring constantly, to form a thick gravy with the vegetables.

For Baking:

• Coat the bottom of a casserole dish with part of the gravy mix. Use about half of the mix for this.
• Cut the sausage into large pieces and place half of them on top of the gravy in the dish. Don’t mix them together.
• Cover the gravy in the dish with a thin layer of the mashed potatoes. About a quarter-inch thick.
• Spoon the remaining gravy over the potatoes so as not to put a hole in them and through to gravy below.
• Use the remaining mash to cover the top of the dish.
• Bake uncovered for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are evenly brown.
• Remove from oven and decorate the potatoes on top with a sprinkle of paprika.

Alternatives:

• You can use milk instead of water to add a creamier flavor to the gravy.
• You may like to add sautéed mushrooms to the gravy mix.
• After cooking, you can top the potatoes with a sprinkle of parsley instead of paprika for decoration.

Serve:

• Serve warm by itself, or with freshly baked scones.

 

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