Thyme and Tabasco Sausage Rolls

It’s getting towards that time of year when we need a little bit of ‘comfort’ food to help us through the cold autumn and winter months. It’s pretty much a great excuse to stuff our faces with tasty treats. After all, we need a little bit of extra fat for the winter, so we might as well start now. Agreed? Good, then read on….

These sausage rolls are warming, moreish, comforting and super-easy to rustle-up in about 45 minutes. They also have a slightly ‘festive’ feel about them.  You don’t have to cook them straight away either, you can save them covered in the fridge for up to 3 days beforehand, so they can be made well in advance if you are planning a little party or get-together. After all, it’s 100 sleeps until Christmas, so why not!

This recipe makes about 40 sausage rolls (I told you, they are moreish!) but if you don’t want to make so many, you can easily halve the quantities (but may live to regret it)…

What you need:

• 1 knob butter
• small glug of olive oil
• parchment paper
• 4 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp Tabasco sauce
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves (removed from stalks)
• 690g good quality sausage meat or 10 sausages with the meat pushed out from the skins (I use Sainsbury’s Ultimate 97% Pork Sausages)
• 4 320g sheets of ready-rolled puff pastry
• 1 free-range egg, beaten
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

What to do:

1. preheat your oven to 200C/400F/Gas mark 6.
2. melt the butter in a large frying pan and fry the finely chopped shallots until they are golden and soft. transfer to a large mixing bowl.
3. to the mixing bowl, add the Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, fresh thyme and sausage meat and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. mix together until thoroughly combined, using your hands if necessary!
4. next, roll the puff pastry out into a large rectangle, then cut into two long rectangles.
5. place a layer of sausage meat mixture down the middle of each pastry rectangle, then brush each pastry rectangle with beaten egg along one side.
6. fold the other side of the pastry over onto the egg-washed edge. press down to seal using a fork (which makes a nice pattern) and cut each pastry roll into about 10 small sausage rolls
7. repeat this for the second pack of puff pastry (if using), until you have as many sausage rolls as required.
8. lightly oil a baking tray using the kitchen paper olive oil, and place the sausage rolls the tray and then into the oven.
9. bake for 18-20 minutes, or until crisp and golden and the sausage meat is completely cooked throughout.

Enjoy, scranners!