Mini toads in the hole

1 Preheat the oven to 220°C.

2 Pre-cook the sausages – I usually grill them in the oven, then turn the oven onto bake. The sausages are done when they are brown all over.

3 Use a pastry brush to brush the cups of a 12-cup muffin pan generously with some of the fat from cooking the sausages. This will make the pans non-stick as well as giving them some sausagey flavour. When the pan is well greased, chop the cooked sausages into small pieces and share them evenly between all 12 muffin cups. Put the greased pan with the sausage pieces into the oven to heat. It is important to have the pan sizzling hot when the batter is poured in to ensure the batter puffs up.

4 Make the batter by sifting the flour into a bowl. Make a ‘well’ in the centre and break in the eggs. Add half the liquid, gradually whisk in the flour and remainder of the liquid till you have a smooth batter. Season with salt and pepper.

5 Open the oven and, working quickly, 3/4 fill each muffin cup with batter, covering the hot sausage pieces (a little jug is an efficient way of pouring the batter without spilling it everywhere). Return the pan to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until batter is puffed up, golden and crisp. Serve with tomato sauce or gravy and vegetables.