MONSTER SAUSAGE ROLL
THERE is nothing clever about this dish — it’s just a jumbo sausage roll. But if you make your own filling, or better still make your own pastry and shape it into a fancy plait, then serve it with a good home-made tomato sauce, it’s pretty well irresistible. SERVES 6 GENEROUSLY For the pastry ● 150g salted butter, frozen ● 220g plain flour ● Good pinch salt
For the filling
● 1 tbsp olive oil
● 2 banana shallots or 1 onion, finely chopped ● 2 garlic cloves, crushed ● Small handful sage leaves, chopped ● 600g good-quality pork sausagemeat, not too finely minced ● 1 apple, grated ● 40g dried breadcrumbs ● 1 medium egg, beaten ● Salt and pepper to season
To bake
● 1 beaten egg, for brushing ● 1 tsp fennel seeds, to garnish THE butter needs to be very cold, so put it in the freezer for at least an hour before using. For the pastry, put the flour and salt into a big bowl. Use the coarse side of a grater to grate long lengths of the frozen butter onto the flour. Mix with a palette knife or butter knife. Sprinkle 4 tbsps cold water into the bowl and, still using the knife, mix until it begins to hold together. Quickly bring the pastry together with a floured hand, avoiding over-handling the dough. Add 1-2 tbsps water, if necessary, to bring it into a soft single lump. Shape into a flat rectangle about 1cm thick. Wrap or cover in cling film and refrigerate for at least half an hour. On to the filling. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan on a low heat and gently fry the shallots or onion until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and sage and cook for a further 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool. Add the remaining filling ingredients to the bowl and mix everything together well. Fry a teaspoonful, taste and add more seasoning or sage if necessary. Heat the oven to 200c/fan 180c/ gas 6. On a floured surface, roll out the pastry to a large rectangle about 25cm x 35cm. Trim the edges to make them dead straight. Shape the filling into a long ‘sausage’, 2cm shorter than the longest side of the pastry. Lay it along the centre of the pastry rectangle with the end of the sausage level with the bottom end of the pastry. With a small sharp knife, cut the pastry on each side of the filling into parallel thin ribbons, like the teeth of a comb, but at a 30-degree angle. Now bring a pastry ribbon from one side over the hump of the sausage, and then bring one from the other side over that. Repeat all the way down the sausage roll, using ribbons of pastry from alternate sides, until you have covered the whole sausage. Neaten up the pastry at the top and bottom of the roll, tucking the ends under. Freeze the sausage roll for 20 minutes or chill in the fridge for 40 minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet and brush the pastry with beaten egg. Sprinkle over the fennel seeds. Bake for 25 minutes, until puffed up and golden brown. Remove from the oven, then serve hot or cold, cut into slices.