Sausage Plait

Sausage Plait

35 min bake, 200°C, serves 4-6

Ingredients

Rough puff pastry
1 full batch (~500g)

Caramelised onions
red onions        300g
unsalted butter   15g
olive oil         15g
balsamic vinegar  15g

Filling
sausage meat      500g
breadcrumbs       40g
fresh sage        5g
dijon mustard     15g
salt              3g
black pepper      2g

To finish
egg               1
sesame seeds      10g

Use good quality sausage meat. Squeeze it from sausages if needed.
The caramelised onions must be completely cold before mixing into the filling or they will melt the pastry.

Recipe

1. Finely slice the red onions. Cook in the butter and olive oil over low heat for 25-30 minutes until deeply soft and golden, stirring occasionally. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir for a minute until it evaporates. Spread onto a plate and leave to cool completely.

2. Mix the sausage meat, breadcrumbs, chopped sage, mustard, salt, pepper and cooled onions together until evenly combined. Refrigerate until needed.

3. Heat the oven to 200°C. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.

4. Roll the rough puff pastry to a 40x30cm rectangle, about 3-4mm thick. Transfer to the lined tray.

5. Mentally divide the rectangle into three equal vertical columns. Spread a thin layer of extra mustard down the centre column, leaving 3cm clear at each end.

6. Shape the filling into a log and lay it along the centre column on top of the mustard.

7. Fold the short ends of pastry up and over the ends of the filling log and press to seal.

8. Cut diagonal strips about 2cm wide down each outer column at roughly 45°. Line up the cuts so strips on each side roughly match in pairs.

9. Plait: fold the first left strip over the filling, then the first right strip over. Alternate left and right all the way down, pulling each strip snugly over the filling. Tuck or seal the last strips at the bottom.

10. Brush all over with beaten egg, including between the strips. Scatter sesame seeds on top.

11. Bake for 35-40 minutes until deep golden brown. Check the filling is cooked through with a skewer held against the inside of your wrist. Leave to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.