Classic Sausage Rolls Recipe

Ingredients

For the rough puff pastry

:

• 175g butter, wrapped in foil and frozen
• 225g plain flour
• a little cold water to mix

For the sausage meat

:

• 2tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 10 sage leaves, chopped
• 400g minced pork
• 100g breadcrumbs
• ¼tsp all spice
• 1 free-range egg, beaten, to bind
• 1 free-range egg, beaten, for glazing

You will need

:

• 2 baking sheets, lightly oiled

Method

1. To make the pastry, grate the frozen butter into a bowl using the foil to stop your hands warming it. Sift in the flour and add a pinch of salt. Sprinkle around 2tbsp cold water into the bowl and, using a table knife, bring the pastry together against the side of the bowl. When it forms a smooth, soft dough (you may need to add more water), divide it into 2 flat rectangles then wrap and chill for 30 minutes. The pastry will look patchy, as the butter should be dotted through it in whole flakes.

2. To make the sausage meat, heat the oil in a sauté pan and sweat the onion gently for 15 minutes on a low heat until very soft. Add the garlic and sage leaves for 1 minute and then spread on a plate to cool. Whizz the cooled mixture in a food processor along with the minced pork, breadcrumbs, all spice and 1 egg, and season well.

3. Roll out one of the pastry rectangles into a long rectangle about 40cmx10cm. Put half the sausage meat in a thin line down the middle of the pastry and brush either side of the meat with beaten egg. Fold the pastry over the filling to make a long roll shape with a lip where the pastry joins. Trim the edges of the lip then press down on it with a fork to seal. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

4. Repeat with the second half of the pastry and sausage meat to make another long roll. You can gather up the pastry cuttings to make more rolls. Heat the oven to 200 C, 180 C fan, gas 6. Cut the chilled sausage roll into mini rolls, glaze with the beaten egg and bake for 15 minutes, until the pastry is golden and filling is piping hot.