summery sausages and caramelised onions with crushed buttered peas

summery sausages and caramelised onions with crushed buttered peas

It's one of those days when the weather doesn't know whether it's Arthur or Martha; we've had three seasons in one day. The morning started bright and fresh as spring, before segueing into a drizzly autumn, returning to a splash of summer and now settling, halfway between the three, as if controlled by some malevolent weather swing-o-meter. Just a normal summer in England again.

So several weeks of piled high salads came to an abrupt end today when I stuffed myself with sausages and caramelised onions on top of a huge mound of crushed buttered peas (my concession to summer). In fact the pea mash was so bright I nearly had to put my sunglasses back on, which rather made up for the grey, drizzly day we were having.

I have a sneaking suspicion that next time I make the crushed peas, I just might forgo any meat and just have a very large bowl of buttery peas to myself. It was absolutely gorgeous, but then as I have mentioned before, my love of peas is as old as I am!

Serves 4
Skill level: Easy

ingredients:
olive oil
8-12 good quality pork sausages
gravy
2 tbsp olive oil (plus the fat from cooking the sausages)
3-4 x English onions, peeled and thinly sliced
half tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp red wine
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
freshly ground black pepper
crushed peas 
500g frozen peas
25g salted butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper

directions.

1. Heat about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and cook the sausages on a medium heat, for 10 to 15 minutes. Turn every few minutes so that they are browned all over and completely cooked through. You could grill or bake them, draining off the fat. However, I fried mine as firstly I wanted to use some of the exuded fat in cooking the onions and secondly, I wanted to cook the onions in the same pan to get extra flavour!
2. Remove the sausages from the pan (draining any of the cooking fat back into the pan) and keep the sausages warm in a low oven)
3. Heat the pan, adding about 1 tablespoon of olive oil (together with any of the fat exuded from cooking the sausages). Add the onions and the salt and cook over a medium-low heat until they are softened and a golden brown colour. (This should take about 15 minutes.) Stir occasionally to ensure that the onions don't catch.
4. Stir in the sugar and cook for another 2 minutes before adding the red wine and Worcestershire sauce. Turn up the heat so that the liquid starts to boil, then reduce and simmer until it has reduced by half. You want squidgy onions rather than runny gravy. Check the seasoning.
5. Cook the peas in a little water for about 3 to 5 minutes over a high heat. (I actually microwave mine on HIGH for 4 minutes.). Drain well then add the butter and roughly mash or blend. (I used a stick blender which left the texture slightly rough.) Season with a little salt and a lot of black pepper.
6. To serve, divide the crushed peas between 4 plates in a generous swirl. Top with some of the squidgy onions and 2 to 3 sausages.