Toad in the hole

Why is toad in the hole called thus? Well, a quick wikipedia search came up with the following highly useful explaination: "Toad in the hole is a traditional British dish consisting of sausages in Yorkshire pudding batter, usually served with vegetables and onion gravy. The origin of the name "Toad-in-the-Hole" is often disputed." Great. This dish is very quick to make, though if you serve it with gravy and vegetables (recommended) it will take longer. Also, you may have noticed I've been doing more mains - the reason being that without Alice around and her trusty collection of one-pot dishes, some responsibility fell on me to make the dinner - so far, I've tried 3 new dishes, including this.

Toad in the hole
Prep time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4
Cooking temp: Gas 7, 220C
Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients
Olive oil, for greasing
454g good-quality sausages (approx. 6 links)
125g plain white flour
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
9 fresh sage leaves
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 eggs
300ml semi-skimmed milk
Pepper, to season

Method

1.  Preheat the oven.
2. Finely chop the sage leaves. Strip the rosemary sprigs of their leaves and divide into two: chop one half and leave the other as whole leaves. Set aside.
   
3. Lightly grease a fairly deep roasting tin with olive oil and add the sausages. Cook for 15-20 minutes until they begin to brown, moving on to the next step whilst you wait.
   
4. The the flour, mustard, sage and rosemary in a large bowl and combine. Make a well in the centre.
   
5. Crack the eggs into the well and mix with an electric whisk.
   
6. Still whisking, slowly add the milk until you have a smooth, liquid batter. Season well with pepper and pour the mixture into a jug.
   
7. Take the sausages out the oven and quickly put carefully pour the batter around them, makin sure the sausages are well spaced.
   
8. Cook for 25 more minutes, until the batter is puffed up and turning golden.
   
9. Serve with gravy and vegetables, and enjoy!