GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF

PIESAND PASTRIES

THE perfect picnic or party food, sausage rolls are incredibly easy to make, especially when using bought puff pastry.

Makes: 16 sausage rolls

Large baking sheet; baking papaer

For the sausage rolls

1 tsp olive or rapeseed oil 1 shallot, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 400g (14oz) good-quality pork sausages (about 6 sausages) 3 tbsp fresh white breadcrumbs ¼ tsp English mustard powder 1 rounded tsp finely chopped sage leaves 300g (10½oz) bought puff pastry block

Beaten egg, to glaze

Sea salt flakes, freshly ground black pepper

1 Heat the oil in a small non-stick frying pan. Tip in the shallot and garlic clove and fry for about 3 minutes, until softened and only lightly coloured. Leave to cool.

2 Squeeze the sausagemeat out of the skins of the sausages into a bowl. Mix in the cooled shallot, the breadcrumbs, mustard powder and chopped sage leaves and season with pepper. You shouldn’t need to add salt as the sausagemeat is salty and you will be sprinkling some on the pastry later.

3 Preheat the oven to 190c/170c fan/375f/ gas 5. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper. Roll out the bought puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and trim to a 37 x 23cm (14½ x 9in) rectangle, then cut in half lengthways. Halve the sausage mixture and shape both halves into a 37cm (14½in) long roll by rolling and pressing it into shape. Flour your hands and the work surface well for this stage.

4 Lay one of the pastry strips on a lightly floured board. Place a roll of sausage- meat mixture down one long side. Brush the far long side of pastry with beaten egg. Roll the pastry over the sausagemeat to enclose it completely. Where the pastry joins, press well to seal and then knock back the edges by tapping into the pastry with the back of a small sharp knife to make small slash marks. Make sure the seal is tight otherwise the sausagemeat will pop out as the rolls bake. Roll it over so the join is underneath. With a sharp knife, cut the roll into eight equal pieces, reshaping if necessary. Repeat with the rest of your sausage mixture.

5 Place the rolls on the baking sheet, with the joins underneath. Make three or four slash marks on top of each roll with a sharp knife, brush them with beaten egg to glaze and sprinkle them with pepper and a few small sea salt flakes. Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until golden, puffy and the meat is cooked through. Remove and cool slightly before serving fresh and warm — although they are also good cold.