Sausage rolls

I based this on a recipe from Alexa Johnston’s excellent book Ladies a Plate — Ray McVinnie

Makes about 24

5 of your favourite large pork sausages 300g flaky puff pastry

1 egg, lightly beaten

Tomato sauce, for serving

1 2 3 4

Heat the oven to 200C. Line an ovenproof tray with baking paper.

Hold each sausage under cold running water as you slit the skins with a sharp knife and remove them (the cold water makes it easier to do this). Keep the sausage shapes intact and drain on paper towels.

Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to make a rectangle about 30cm by 40cm. Place enough of the sausages end to end (you will have to cut them to fit) along one

Photography by Tam West

of the short sides of the pastry. Brush some egg along the bottom of the sausage meat so that the pastry will stick when rolled over. Carefully roll the pastry over the sausage so there is a 2cm wide double thickness of pastry under the sausage roll.

Cut along it so you have one long sausage roll with the pastry join underneath. Repeat for the remaining sausages. You will have two long sausage rolls.

Place on the paper-lined tray, pastry joins underneath. Mark each roll into 10 equal pieces with shallow cuts with a knife. (Don’t cut right through — you do that after they are cooked). Brush with beaten egg. Refrigerate 30 minutes then place in the oven for 25 minutes or until very well cooked and browned (don’t undercook them).

10 Remove from the oven and slice the rolls where you have marked them.

Cool a little then serve with tomato sauce (or your favourite chutney). 5 6 7 8 9 11