Sausage Rolls

Ingredients

• 500 g good sausages, skins removed
• 1 sheet of all-butter puff pastry
• 1 small onion, grated
• a few sage leaves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• 40 g breadcrumbs
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tsp fennel seeds

Method

1. Mix the filling

   Squeeze the sausagemeat out of the skins and mix with the grated onion, sage, mustard and breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs absorb the fat and juices that would otherwise run out and make the base soggy.

2. Chill it

   Chill the filling for 20 minutes. Cold sausagemeat rolls into a neat log; warm, it smears everywhere.

   20 min

3. Roll and seal

   Cut the pastry into two long strips, lay a sausage of filling down one side of each, brush the far edge with egg, and roll over. Press the seam firmly and put it underneath — an unsealed seam bursts open and the filling escapes.

4. Chill again, then cut

   Chill the rolls for 15 minutes before cutting into lengths. Cold pastry cuts cleanly and rises much better in the oven.

   15 min

5. Glaze and bake

   Brush with egg, scatter with fennel seeds, and cut two small slashes in each. Bake at 200°C until deep gold and cooked through — 25 minutes, and check that the underside is browned too.

   25 min