Smoked Sausages with Norwegian Beer Gravy

Cook Time 1 hour

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 artisan smoked pork sausages

Pickles

1 cucumber, thinly sliced

1 tsp sea salt 

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tbsp caster sugar

½ tsp hot English mustard 

3 sprigs of dill, finely chopped

Gravy 

40g unsalted butter

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 sprig of thyme, leaves picked

1 tbsp plain flour

100ml local beer 

250ml good quality beef stock

To Serve

Potato mash, to serve

Method

For the pickles, put the cucumbers in a colander with salt and let them sit for 20 minutes. Wash the cucumbers thoroughly, then drain and pat dry. Mix the vinegar, sugar, mustard, and dill in a bowl until the sugar dissolves. Add the cucumbers and fold through. 

Fry the sausages until they’re cooked through. Remove and keep warm on a plate. In the same pan, melt butter over a medium heat. Add onion and fry for 3–4 minutes to soften and caramelise. Whisk in the flour, then add the beer and whisk in slowly until smooth. Add thyme leaves, then beef stock, and keep whisking until it thickens. 

Serve the sausages on the mash, along with lashings of beer gravy. Garnish with the pickles.