January Jeliciousness: Classic British Sausage Rolls

Ann and I went to boarding school together. Translation: we went through hell together. Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, I found her again, in North Carolina. I have a sneaking suspicion that Ann went to cookery school, so her recipe for Sausage Rolls makes me particularly giddy. Serve with Heinz Baked Beans for a real nursery supper.

Sausage Rolls

Quick Flaky Pastry
8oz (225g) Plain Flour
6oz (175g) Butter
pinch salt
Cold water to mix

I freeze the butter, then dip it into the flour and then grate it on a coarse grater into the flour. Keep dipping the butter in the flour to make it easier to grate.
At the end you will be left with a pile of grated butter in the middle of the flour, so take a palette knife and start to distribute it into the flour (don't use your hands) coating all the pieces of butter until the mixture is crumbly. Next add enough chilled water to form a dough that leaves the bowl clean, using your hands to bring it all gently together. Put the dough in a Ziploc bag and chill for 30 mins in fridge.

Sausage Meat
1lb sausage meat
1 medium grated onion
(I use Jimmy Dean Premium pork sausage with sage)

When you are ready to make the sausage rolls mix the sausagemeat and onion together. Then roll out the pastry on a floured surface to form an oblong shape (as thin as you can). Cut this oblong into 3 strips and divide the sausagemeat also into 3, making 3 long rolls the same length as the strips of pastry(if it gets sticky roll it in some flour).

Place one roll of sausage meat on to one strip of pastry. Brush with beaten egg along one edge., then fold the pastry over and seal it as carefully as possible. Lift the whole thing up and and turn it so the sealed edge is underneath. Press lightly, and cut into individual rolls each about 2 inches long. Snip 3 v shapes in the top of each roll with scissors and brush with beaten egg. Repeat with all this with the other portions.

Place the rolls on on a baking sheet and bake high in a 400F oven for about 20-25 mins. These freeze very well if you want to cook them later. I like to have a stash in the freezer ready to cook.