Building a better bangers and mash

Marriage is about compromise, and here's a dinner-time deal I brokered between the carnivorous cravings of my British-born husband and my preferences for French and Italian flavours.

It's a simple dish of bangers and mash with a twist: oven-roasted pork sausages, an upmarket 'gravy' and a silken potato purée.

The result is garlicky, boozy, earthy and rich. Stodgy comfort food for him, elegant continental flavour for her.

This is what you get when a meat-and-potatoes boy meets a Mediterranean-loving girl: and wants something to eat with a bottle of red.