A Wreath Of Pigs In Blankets

SERVES 10-12 SERVES PREPARATION 10–12 PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes TIME:

COOKING TIME: minutes 25 minutes COOKING TIME: INGREDIENTS: INGREDIENTS: 1818 smoked smoked streaky bacon rashers streaky bacon 18 rashers traditional butcher’ s sausages 18 traditional (I like butcher’ s cumberland or Lincolnshire) sausages 18 (toothpicks ideally 12 bay cumberland leaves 8 rosemary or lincolnshire) sprigs a good 18 tooth picks few thymes prigs 12 bay leaves 8 rosemary sprigs A good few thyme sprigs Oil (I would use rapeseed), for cooking

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan (425°F)/ Gas Mark 7.

2. Get the largest chopping board you have and wrap the sausages in the bacon. They look best with a bit of sausage peeping out at each end. Lay a slice of bacon flat on the chopping board and roll a sausage up in it. Don’t wrap it too tight, but make sure it’s firmly wrapped. Repeat with the rest of the sausages.

3. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Place a side plate bang in the centre of the paper and draw round the edge in pencil. Lay the wrapped sausages around it in a tight circle.

4. Push a toothpick in the bottom of each sausage, where it is sitting closest to the next sausage, to attach it to its next three neighbours. Repeat by doing the same thing to the next one along, following the circle around until your wreath is secure.

5. Get all your herbs and intertwine them through the wreath. Drizzle with oil and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the sausages and bacon are cooked through. Remove from the oven and transfer to a serving board or platter, then remove the toothpicks.