Bacon & Sausage Savoury Rolls

Sausage savoury pastry, commonly known as Sausage Roll is extremely popular in the bakeries and sandwich shops across the UK. It can also be served as a snack at the parties and can be served either hot or cold. Sausage rolls were already known in 18^th century and nowadays are probably one of the most popular, take-away breakfasts in Britain. However not many people know how easy it is to prepare them at home. Are you a sausage rolls lover? Or maybe you were never allowed to try them before, because of your diet restrictions? Then this is the recipe you’ve been looking for. It’s quick, simple and can be adjusted to everyone’s needs. (Recipe by Chef Clary Wilson)

Ingredients:

340g puff pastry

4 leans slices of bacon

4 Sausages

1 red onion- sliced thinly

50g grated cheddar cheese

Oil- for frying

Egg- for brushing

Method:

1. In a frying pan, fry the bacon and sausages in oil until light brown on low heat.
2. Fry the onions until translucent.
3. Roll out the puff pastry (approx. 3-5 mm thick) and cut into sauces size circle.
4. Wrap a sausage in a slice of bacon and place in the middle of puff pastry circle. Sprinkle with onions and cheddar cheese.
5. Pick up one side of the pastry and fold to the centre. Brush with egg and fold over the other side. Brush with egg all over to give your sausage rolls a nice glaze.
6. Place on greased baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes at 180C until golden brown. Enjoy!

TIPS:

You were never able to try a sausage roll, because of halal or vegetarian diet. It’s not a problem anymore! You can easily change this recipe to create a delicious snack, suitable for you. I was always stuck to cheese and onion pastries until I’ve learnt to make these sausage rolls at home.  For my halal sausage rolls I use sausage shaped kebabs, instead of bacon and sausages. They add more flavours to the snack due to various spices used and also you can experiment with different meat: chicken, lamb, goat, etc. You can also use different spices to marinade the meat. Here is a quick reminder of our best recipes: Sheekh kebabs, Chicken Koftas and Meatball curry. Simply shape a long, sausage-like kebab and prebake it in the oven at 180C, until golden brown. This will assure you the meat is cooked properly and also help to get rid off excess fat from the meat.

If you are vegetarian you can buy meat-free sausages in the supermarket and use them instead. They are usually made of soya and vegetables and they are very healthy and tasty alternative for traditional sausage.

To add more flavours to this tasty party snack I also upgrade the recipe by adding other type of cheese. My favourite is Red Leicester, but you can adjust it to your own preferences. Enjoy!

Egg custart tart

Egg custard tart is regarded as another classic of British cuisine. Often described as favourite pastry in the British Isles, custard tarts are widely sold in supermarkets and bakeries throughout the UK. The history of egg tart reaches back to the Middle Ages. It’s usually associated with Medieval recipes for croustade, doucettes and darioles- old French custard pies consisting of shortcrust pastry shell filled with mixture of cream, milk and eggs, enriched with honey and spices. Modern egg custard tarts base on very similar formula. Apart from Britain custard tarts are widely enjoyed in Commonwealth countries like Australia and New Zealand. Also other countries have their regional equivalents. Most popular are French Flans pâtissier, Portuguese Pastel de nata or Dan Tat- speciality of Hong Kong cuisine. 

Ingredients:

200g short crust pastry

4 large eggs

1 pint whole milk

2 oz sugar

Large pinch or ground nutmeg

• Preheat the oven to 190C. Roll out the pastry and line the flat tin. Press the pastry into the tin (Trim the edges of the tart with a sharp serrated knife.) Fill the pastry with baking beans. Blind bake for approx. 15- 20 minutes, until golden and sandy all over. 

• Whisk the eggs lightly with the sugar.
• Warm up the milk and pour it in continuous stream onto the eggs, whisking lightly. Strain into the pastry case and sprinkle the top with nutmeg.

• Bake in the centre of the oven at mark 7 for 10 minutes and then reduce the heat to mark 4 and bake for a further 20-25 minutes until the custard is set.
• When it's ready, the tart should be set and pale golden on the top, and have just the merest tremor in the centre when you jiggle the tray. Cool completely, then serve in slices. Enjoy!

Traditional apple pie

Apple pie is another old-fashion, perfect tasting dessert or tea time treat, which we would like to share here.

Traditional apple pie showed up, in one form or another, since medieval ages. There is an English recipe that dates back to 1381. Although, without of a shadow of a doubt, apples cooked in pies pre-dates this by many 100's of years. Now almost every European country has its own variation of this British Classic and it’s also one of the most favourites in North America.

Without any doubt cinnamon-scented apple pie with golden melt-in-the-mouth pastry conquers hearts all over the world.

Here you will find out how to prepare this ultimate comfort food in easy way.

Ingredients:

400g short crust pastry

1.5 kg cooking apples (such as Bramley or Granny Smith)

100g sugar

25g butter

½ tsp cinnamon

• Peel, quarter and core apples. Cut them into small cubes

• Melt the butter in a pan. Add sugar, cinnamon, apples and a few tablespoons of water. Cook over moderate heat for 10 minutes. Keep stirring to prevent the mixture from sticking to the pan.

• When the apples are soft and slightly mushy take the pan off the heat and leave to cool down

• Preheat the oven to 180C. Take half of the short crust pastry, roll out and line the tart tin. Trim the edges with a knife using the edge of the plate as your guide. Lightly prick the surface of the pastry with a fork.

• Fill with apple mixture. Add some diced, uncooked apples to give your pie more distinctive flavour and better look. When apples are peeled and especially when sliced, their attractive white colour will very quickly turn a 'not-so-attractive' brownish colour, so by adding some freshly cubed ones you will increase the presentation value of your pie. 

• Roll out the other half of the pastry and cover the apple filling.  Transfer the rolled out pastry to the top of the pie using the rolling pin. (First, lightly roll 50% or so of the flattened pastry over the rolling pin. Then support the rest with your hand and transfer it to top of the dish). Using both hands, 'crimp' the pastry round the edge of the pie to obtain an attractive finish. Finally lightly prick the pastry with a fork to allow the steam to come out during cooking and prevent the top going soggy.

• Brush with egg wash to give it a light brown colour when cooked. Sprinkle with sugar and bake in preheated oven for approx. 25 minutes. Enjoy!

TIPS:

-     Apple pie tastes delicious warm or cold. You can serve on its own or with custard, whipped cream or ice cream.

-       For more acidic and tangy flavour add a few drops of lemon juice to your apple mixture. It will also prevent apples from browning so quickly.

-       If you want to add shine and sparkle to your apple pie, thin 4 tablespoons of golden syrup with very hot water. When the pie is done, brush the thinned syrup over the top of the pastry. You can add granulated sugar or demerara sugar at this time. Return the pie to the oven for 2 to 3 minutes to let the glaze dry and set.

-      To check the doneness of the pie filling, insert a knife into the centre of the pie. If it meets with little or no resistance, the pie is done.
If the pie is not quite done but the top or edges are becoming too dark, loosely cover the top of the pie with aluminium foil to shield it from the heat.

-      When it is cooked, leave to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving to allow pie filling to set. Beware; apple pie can stay really hot for an hour or so. Ready apple pie can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days.

Lemon meringue pie

Lemon meringue pie is slightly forgotten English classic. It combines both sweet and tangy flavours and it’s simple and quick to prepare. Lemon flavoured custards, puddings and pies have been enjoyed since medieval times, but meringue was perfected in the 17th century. Lemon meringue pie, as it is known today, is a 19th century product.

This irresistible dessert can be served warm or cold. So if you haven’t tried it yet, you shouldn’t wait any longer…

 Ingredients:

1 prebaked Short crust pastry shell

For Filling:

2 lemons

40g corn flour

125g caster sugar

15g butter

2 egg yolks

For Meringue:

2 egg whites

100g caster sugar

½ tsp corn flour

1. Put the juice and rind of the lemons in a measuring jug. Add sugar and corn flour. Mix together into a paste.

2. Add enough water to make up to 300 ml.

3. Pour this liquid into a small pan and cook gently on low heat until mixture thickens.

4. Remove from the heat. Add butter and beat in egg yolks. 

5. Pour the mixture into pastry shell and leave to cool.

 

6. Whisk egg whites with electric whisk until stiff, add half of the sugar and whisk again. Sprinkle with remaining sugar and gently mix in.

7. Spoon the meringue over lemon filling. Using a knife pull out delicate spikes.

8. Place in preheated oven and bake in 180C for about 10 minutes until meringue is golden brown. Enjoy!

Shortcrust pastry

Shortcrust pastry is the easiest type of pastry to make. It's also very versatile as it readily incorporates other flavourings. It can be used for sweet or savoury pies and tarts, pasties and other pastry parcels. Regular shortcrust pastry is made of ½ fat: 1 flour ratio and bound with water but for a richer version the water is replaced with egg. Perfect home-made pastry is quick and easy to prepare and it’s light and crusty.

Ingredients

200g plain flour

100g margarine

Pinch of salt

3 Tbsp water

1. Sift the flour and salt into large mixing bowl.
2. Rub the margarine into the flour Rub until the mixture gains sandy texture. At this stage it should resemble fine breadcrumbs. Try working as quick as possible to prevent the dough becoming warm.
3. Make a well in the centre. Slowly add water to the mixture and stir until dough is formed.
4. Cover with cling film and put to rest in the fridge for about 15-30 minutes.

Tips:

Shortcrust, puff pastry and their relatives need to be kept cool for best results. This means chilling the ingredients and the utensils before making the pastry, and working on a cool surface - marble is ideal. Traditionally, pastry was made first thing in the morning, before the kitchen had a chance to get hot.

Also for this reason pastry needs to be mixed quickly. This helps keep it cool but also minimises development of the flour's gluten content, otherwise the pastry may become too elastic, difficult to roll, inclined to shrink, and tough in texture. Too much handling can also make the fat soft and the finished pastry greasy.

You can use a food processor while making shortcrust pastry. It can be an advantage as it can help minimise handling. However it is important not to let the machine overwork the pastry – it will result in hard, dry pastry - a common fault in pastry making.

Chilling the dough in the fridge helps relax the gluten and set the fat, making the dough manageable and less likely to shrink. Raw shortcrust can be kept wrapped in cling film in the fridge for two or three days before rolling and baking. It can also be frozen for up to three months.