Sausages are by the far the best invention of the culinary world! I love them, and this is a way to serve them with a salad-like twist. My favourite sandwich when I was a child was cold sausage and English mustard and this is a more grown-up riff on that. The English dressing is the same as French dressing, or vinaigrette, but made with English mustard and rapeseed oil. That powerful pungent kick that comes from English mustard is one of life’s delights. Be careful though, as too much and it can bring tears to your eyes! Poaching the sausages first is a chef’s technique that allows you to fry them without them curling up.
Serves 4
8 good-quality pork sausages
rapeseed oil
500g baby spinach leaves, rinsed and dried in a salad spinner
For the English dressing
3 tablespoons prepared English mustard
4 teaspoons caster sugar
100ml white wine vinegar
400ml rapeseed oil
salt and cayenne pepper, to taste
Put the sausages and enough water to cover in a large frying pan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, or until all the water has evaporated, but the sausages have taken on no colour. Remove them from the pan and set to one side to cool.
To make the English dressing, whisk the mustard, sugar and white wine vinegar together in a non-metallic bowl. Slowly whisk in the rapeseed oil until it emulsifies and thickens into a dressing. Season with salt and cayenne pepper. This can stay in the fridge until needed, then just give it a whisk or shake before you use it.
When you are ready to fry the sausages, heat a thin layer of rapeseed oil in the frying pan over a mediumhigh heat. Add the sausages to the pan and fry, turning them over occasionally, for 3–5 minutes until the skins are crispy and browned. Remove the sausages from the pan and drain on kitchen paper, then thickly slice them.
Place the hot sausages and spinach leaves in a large bowl, add enough of the English dressing to coat all the ingredients and toss together. Serve immediately. Any leftover dressing will keep in the fridge indefinitely.