Sausage Rolls

Everyone loves a good sausage roll and they are so easy to make. If you want to show off you can grind your own pork but, really, a good butchers sausage already has the perfect balance of meat, fat and seasoning. Why make life difficult for yourself?

Ingredients:

1 lb best quality plain pork butchers sausage
1 small onion - peeled and finely diced
a handful of white breadcrumbs
6 leaves of sage - chopped
a pinch of smoked paprika
a few grates of fresh nutmeg
8 oz pre-made puff pastry
1 beaten egg

Pre-heat your oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4

Method:

1. Roll the puff pastry into a long rectangle just under ½ cm thick. Chill.

2. Heat a knob of butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook the onions until golden. Add the sage and spices and cook for 1 minute. Cool.

3. Slit the sausage skins with a sharp knife and squeeze the meat into a large bowl. Add all the other ingredients then, with clean hands, scrunch the mixture together.

4. Place the mixture in a line down one side of the pastry. Brush the edges with the beaten egg then fold the pastry over and press to seal the join. Cut into as many or few sausage rolls as you want, transfer to a baking tray lined with parchment and brush with beaten egg.

The sausage rolls can be chilled at this point until you are ready to bake them or frozen and defrosted at a later date. Place in your pre-heated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until risen and golden.