Recipes at the top, sweet blog post below.
Bangers & Smash
Ingredients
- 4-8 Sausages of your choice*
- 2 Leeks, thinly sliced, 1" pieces (white & light green)
- 4 Golden Potatoes
- Olive Oil (regular)
- Pink Himalayan Salt & Ground Black Pepper (to taste)
Preheat oven to 450°F. Bake the potatoes for about 40 minutes. When completed, let cool for about 10 minutes. Brush the baking sheet with olive oil and sprinkled lightly with salt and pepper. Place the potatoes back on the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Using the bottom of a mug, sharply press down on the potatoes to smash them down to about 1” thick. The skins will break when you do this. Brush the tops with olive oil and return it to the oven for about 15 minutes.
While the potatoes are baking, toss the leeks in 1-2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper. Remove the potatoes from the oven again, flip them, and then move them to cover only about half of the baking sheet. Make sure the empty side of the sheet has a thin coat of olive oil. Spread out the leeks on the empty side of the sheet. Coat sausages* in olive oil and arrange over the leeks. Bake for about 8-10 minutes. Stir the leeks and turn the sausage. Bake for about 10 more minutes, until sausage is fully warmed through.
*Note:The recipe & directions here are using fully cooked sausage. If using fresh sausage, you may need to cook a little longer than what is listed below or pre-cook it in a pan with some olive oil, browning on all sides. If using the oven to cook them, you will want to remove the leeks at the time indicated so they don’t overcook. The potatoes can stay in if you like them a little crispier.
Guys, I’m so sorry this post is so late. We moved and then I was sick for a whole week! (Not COVID, just a really bad cold/flu) I’m feeling much better now so let’s jump on in to this recipe! Figuratively, of course. Don’t literally jump into this. That’s gross.
So. Bangers & Smash. This is my own take on the traditional UK dish, bangers and mash. Bangers. Hehe. Where do these sausages get their name? Fun fact: back in World War I there were a lot of food shortages. As a result, there was a dramatic reduction of meat production and sausages began being made with cheap fillers, like water, which caused them to pop, hiss, and explode when cooked. Hence the name “bangers” was born. As there are no food shortages at this time in the UK, bangers are made typically with high quality meats and this dish is a staple in the UK.
With my own variation, I opted to go with smashed potatoes rather than mashed, and removed the gravy while adding in some leeks. Some roasted cherry tomatoes may also go great with this, but alas…. Steve can’t have tomatoes often so I couldn’t include them when I made this. I typically make this using whatever sausages I have on hand and used pre-cooked andouille smoked sausage in this batch (I know, blasphemy). As noted, you may need to pre-cook any fresh sausage a little to ensure they cook through and you don’t overcook the potatoes or leeks. Speaking of leeks… do you know about all the great health benefits of leeks? If not, than you clearly didn’t read my last post about them and haven’t made my other killer soup. Maybe take a jaunt over there, friends?
I picked this dish because it is so easy to make, and when you’re not feeling well the last thing you want to do is cook anything intensive. Seriously, you should be resting if you’re sick. In fact, don’t make this recipe. Go make my soup, take some Cold Calm and drink some Echinacea tea. For real, echinacea is the bee’s knees. This little plant packs a punch to boost your immune system and can actually reduce cold and flu symptoms. So if you’re a little downtrodden and you have that seasonal cold, make sure you take in those immune boosting ingredients, stay hydrated and get plenty of sleep. Your body will thank you.
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