Venison Sausages & Mash

It's bloomin freezing at the moment so I am guessing I am not alone in craving comfort food. Sausage & Mash is comfort food at it's best but when you are WeightWatching, sausages are really just out of the question as pork is such a fatty meat.  I am personally not a fan of the reduced fat sausage. It's likely to be pumped full of other stuff to make up for the lack of proper pork. This is where venison sausages are just an excellent replacement. Tesco do a 300g pack of 6 sausages which have a delicious meaty taste. The smell fills my fridge and when grilled are just 9 ProPoints per serving (3 sausages). Compared to the Tesco Finest Cumberland Sausages which are a whopping 23 ProPoints for the same weight, it's worth giving Venison a go.

Creamy mash potato is an obvious accompaniment to sausages, although I am partial to a oven baked jacket potato too. With my low fat mash potato there is no need for cream or lashings of butter. Just a tiny amount of butter and a couple of tablespoons of skimmed milk are plenty. Using the right potato is also essential. I tend to buy a 2.5kg bag of baking potatoes in my weekly shop as I find it's a versatile spud resulting in really good mash, perfect roasties and a crispy jacket that's fluffy inside.

I sometimes make the red onion gravy from scratch, but more often rely on little cheats. By using a dollop of shop bought red onion marmalade with Bisto gravy, it is the perfect finale to the meal. (I did make a batch of marmalade over Christmas which was just amazing with our naughty indulgence of foie gras, and you can make your own easily using the recipe from BBC Good Food.)

You'll need for 2:

• Pack 300g venison sausages
• 600g potatoes, peeled and diced
• Savoy cabbage or green beans or other veg of your choice
• 1/2 tsp butter
• 1-2 tbsp skimmed milk
• 1 tbsp red onion marmalade / chutney
• 3-4 tsp bisto original
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Seasoning

First job is to make the mash. I usually make this much earlier in the day as it nicely re-heats later in the microwave.  Place the diced potato in a saucepan with cold salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer until the potato is tender which is approximately 20-25 minutes. Drain and allow to dry in the colander for a few minutes. Meanwhile, put the saucepan back on the hob and melt the butter and warm the skimmed milk.  Add the potatoes back to the pan and using a masher to mash the potato. Season and add the nutmeg and stir through. If you have a ricer then push the potato through this, but it is not necessary.

Grill the sausages according to the instructions and cook your vegetables by steaming or boiling.

At the same time as the sausages and vegetables are cooking, make your gravy. Heat through the marmalade in a saucepan. Mix the bisto with some cold water and add it to the pan stirring all the time. Top up with boiling water from the kettle until you have the right consistency.

WeightWatchers ProPoints Per Serving: 12