SAUSAGE ROLLS WITH ’NDUJA PASTRY

Makes 14 sausage rolls

INGREDIENTS

370g unsalted butter

80g ’nduja

1 tbsp plain flour Zest of 1 lemon

600g sausage meat

1 egg, beaten, to glaze

For the dough

500g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting

5g fine salt

100g cold unsalted butter, cubed

250ml cold water Juice of ½ lemon

METHOD

► First prepare the butter. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and ’nduja together until combined. Add the flour and lemon zest and beat again. Scoop the butter out on to a sheet of parchment paper, forming it into a block that’s roughly A5 size, wrap in the paper and put in the fridge to firm up.

► Now make the dough. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the flour, salt and cold cubed butter until the butter disappears into the flour. Add the water and lemon juice and mix until a dough forms. Place on a large sheet of parchment paper, form into a rectangle about A4 size, and cover with the paper. Place on a tray and put in the fridge for two hours.

► Once cold, it’s time to fold the pastry. Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the dough a little from short end to short end so that it is only slightly longer than a sheet of A4 paper. Have one of the short ends closest to you.

► Take the ’nduja butter out of the fridge and roll it out a little between two pieces of parchment paper (this will help it to become more pliable when worked into the dough). It shouldn’t be rock hard at this point, but if it is then let it sit out of the fridge for 20 minutes or so.

► Place the butter on top of the dough so that it covers roughly two thirds of the dough from the short edge closest to you. Fold the top third of the dough down over the butter, then fold the bottom third of the dough (including the butter) up over this, like a letter. Turn the dough 90 degrees clockwise – this is called a single turn.

► Roll the dough to the length of your workbench and repeat the above folds, turning again by 90 degrees. Make a small thumbprint in one corner of the dough – this will help you keep track of which way around the dough should be when you bring it out of the fridge. Transfer the dough to the fridge for two hours.

► After two hours, take the dough out and repeat the process of the two single turns, returning to the fridge for another two hours once complete.

► After another two hours, do this one more time, returning the dough for a final two hours to rest. You should now have completed six single turns of the dough.

► Take the dough out of the fridge and, on a floured surface, roll to a rectangle measuring 80x20cm. Cut the dough in half widthways to get two pieces of 40x20cm. Form two lengths of sausage meat with your hands and place down both long edges of one of the pieces, 2.5cm from the edges – you should now have two rows of sausage meat.

► Brush the exposed pastry with water and lay the second piece of pastry over the top, using your thumb to seal both the edges and the pastry down the centre of the sausages gently. Transfer this to a baking sheet and chill in the fridge for one hour.

► Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas 6.

► Remove the sausage roll sheet from the fridge and cut lengthways through the middle, leaving you with two long sausage rolls. Use the tines of a fork to press down on the pastry, sealing on both sides.

► Cut each sausage roll into seven pieces, giving you 14 individual sausage rolls of about 5.5cm in length. You can trim the edges to make these a little neater. Brush the pastry with the egg wash.

► Bake for 35 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180C/160C fan/Gas 4 and bake for a further five to 10 minutes, until dark golden.

Spiced butter enriches the pastry for these rolls