Instructions

1. 1
   Put a large heavy frying pan on a hob over a medium heat. Put in a little vegetable oil (if desired) and let it warm up.
2. 2
   Then place the sausages in a single layer in the frying pan. Let them fry a minute or so, then turn them over, fry another minute, turn them around again, to try and get a bit of colour all over.
3. 3
   Once they've been in the hot pan for 5 minutes or so, turn the heat right down to low. Let them fry very gently for the next 25 minutes, turning them over every 5 or 10 minutes so they get cooked evenly. You can cook them for longer than this (even up to about an hour on a very low heat). Always make sure the sausages are cooked all the way through (no pinkness should remain).
4. 4
   Peel the potatoes and chop them roughly into pieces around 1 or 2 cm thick. Add them to a large pan of boiling water and boil vigorously for 15 minutes.
5. 5
   When they're done (they'll be soft enough that you can easily put a knife/fork into one of the pieces), drain them in a colander and return them to the big pan (not on the heat any more).
6. 6
   Add a generous knob of butter and a splash of milk to the potatoes, and mash them all up with a potato masher.