Special Sausage Rolls and Sausage Plait

These sausage rolls are really tasty and not peppery. You can make this recipe as traditional sausage rolls or as a sausage plait – ideal for parties.

Ingredients:
1lb (500g) pork sausagemeat
1 medium size onion, finely chopped
4 mushrooms, finely chopped

2 tsp of dried mixed herbs or, ideally, chopped fresh herbs as follows:
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
½ tsp thyme
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp marjoram

1lb rough puff pastry (frozen or you can make your own)
Flour for rolling out pastry
1 egg, beaten
Poppy or sesame seeds

Thoroughly mix the sausagemeat, onions, mushrooms and herbs.

Sausage Rolls
Roll out the pastry to an oblong about 5 mm thick.  Spread the sausagemeat in a long roll down the centre of the pastry.  Brush one edge of the pastry with beaten egg, fold over the pastry to form a long roll.

Cut the roll into 35mm lengths and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.  Brush the rolls with beaten egg.

Cut small slits in the pastry with scissors and sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds.

Sausage Plait
Roll out the pastry to a rectangle.  Mark into thirds lengthways.  Spread sausagemeat evenly over middle third.

Cut pastry either side into strips (see photo) and fold strips alternately over sausagemeat to form a plait. Seal ends with left over strips, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with seeds.

Bake in oven 230C (220C fan oven) for 10-15 minutes until the sausagemeat is cooked (maybe a little longer for sausage plait).

Pastry:
8 oz (250g) flour
6 oz butter or butter/lard
Water for mixing

Rub 4 oz of the butter into the flour until it looks like breadcrumbs.
Add water and mix to rolling out consistency.
Roll out pastry to a strip, mark into 3 and spread rest of fat on one third in small pats.  Fold into 3, roll out gently to a strip again and fold into 3, then roll out to the shape required.