“The one recipe that’s guaranteed to cause arguments within my family is these sausage rolls. ‘Who’s got the biggest one?’, ‘Who got more?’, ‘Why haven’t you made me these?’. They are requested frequently and devoured within seconds! Stornaway black pudding is the best in the world apparently (guess who told me that!) so if you can get hold of some, try it in this recipe. These are all about flavour – each bite should have a bit of everything. The flaky pastry is perfect without all the folding and turning of puff pastry. Just make sure your butter and water are really cold!” – Candice Brown.
Makes 6–8 sausage rolls
For the pastry:
150g unsalted butter, frozen
110g strong white bread flour
110g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
2 tsp dried sage
4–5 tbsp ice-cold water
beaten egg, for glazing
sesame and poppy seeds, for sprinkling
For the filling:
400g good-quality pork sausagemeat
100g smoked streaky bacon, finely chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh sage
½ tsp dried thyme
2 shallots, finely chopped
½ tsp smoked paprika
100g chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped garlic (jarred or fresh)
1 tsp finely chopped red chilli (jarred or fresh)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
150g good-quality black pudding
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. First, make the pastry. Coarsely grate the butter onto a cold plate (do not handle the grated butter). Return to the freezer or put into the fridge to keep cold.
2. Sift both types of flour into a large bowl and mix in the dried sage, a pinch of salt and some pepper. Without handling the butter, drop it into the flour mix and, using a blunt knife, mix the grated butter into the flour to coat it all evenly. Sprinkle over 2 tablespoons of ice-cold water and mix in with the knife, then gradually add a further 2–3 tablespoons of water until the mix starts to come together.
3. Finish mixing to a pastry dough with your hands but do not handle the pastry too much. If you need more water, add it a couple of drops at a time. The pastry should leave the sides of the bowl clean. Flatten the pastry into a square shape and wrap it in cling film. Leave to rest in the fridge for 30–45 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the filling. Put all of the filling ingredients, except the black pudding, into a large bowl with some salt and pepper. Start mixing with a large spoon – then I like to get my hands in and squish it altogether. Fry off a small piece of the filling in a small pan to check the seasoning. Add more to taste. Cover and set aside until needed.
5. Remove the black outer coating from the black pudding and cut the pudding into 1cm sticks.
6. Set the chilled pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll out into a 60 x 30cm rectangle that is about 3mm thick. (If this is too big for your work surface, cut the pastry block in half and roll out each half into a 30 x 15cm oblong piece.) Turn the pastry as you roll to stop it from springing back. As you work, try not to handle the pastry too much.
7. Trim the edges of the pastry rectangle so they are straight and neat. Spoon the sausagemeat filling into the centre of the pastry and squeeze it together to make a sausage shape that runs across the pastry rectangle, parallel to the 30cm sides (I find flouring your hands helps to do this). Push the sticks of black pudding into the filling in straight lines from end to end.
8. With cold, floured hands, lift one 30cm side of the pastry up to the middle over the sausage filling and brush the outside edge with beaten egg (or milk). Lift the opposite side of the pastry up to slightly overlap and gently squeeze the edges together to create a sealed join of pastry. Roll the whole thing over so the join is on the bottom. Lift onto a tray and place in the freezer to chill for 10 minutes.
9. Remove from the freezer and, using a sharp knife, cut across into 5cm pieces. Arrange these, with the join underneath, on a greased baking sheet that has been lined with greaseproof paper. Return to the freezer to keep cold while you preheat the oven to 180°C fan (200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6).
10. Glaze the pastry with beaten egg (or milk) and snip a small ‘V’ on top of each roll. Bake for 20–30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the sausage filling is cooked and no longer pink.
11. Remove from the oven and gently lift the sausage rolls from the baking sheet on to a wire rack to cool.
These taste great with my Sticky Red Onion Chutney dolloped on top! If you’re not keen on black pudding, swap it for sticks of apple or chorizo, or just keep it simple and have nothing at all except sausagemeat.
Extracted from Comfort by Candice Brown
(Ebury Press, £20)
Photography by Ellis Parrinder
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