SAUSAGE PLAIT

We're carrying on with the apple theme in this useful savoury dish.This is one of my best 'go-to' recipes which I've cooked for many occasions over the years. It can be eaten hot or cold - great for picnics and buffet tables but also lovely for family meals - children love it. I served the plait recently  - warm, accompanied by roasted root vegetables and gravy. You get all the flavours of roast pork - pork sausages, apples, onions and sage for a fraction of the cost. This dish also freezes very well which is always a bonus. Please note the waterlily tomatoes used for garnishing in the above photograph - they were used a great deal in the 60's and 70's. By the way I always buy ready-made puff pastry nowadays as life's too short to make puff pastry!!

Ingredients

1 pack puff pastry (frozen or chilled)

1 pack thick pork sausages (usually weigh 500grams or just over 1 pound)

1 medium onion

1 medium Bramley apple

1 teaspoon dried sage

1 egg for glaze

Method

1. Take skins off sausages ( using a sharp knife slit the skin along one side of sausage) take skin off onion and chop fairly finely, peel, core and chop apple (similar size to onion)

2. Place these ingredients in a bowl and mix well together. You can use a wooden spoon but I think  clean hands do a better job

3. Roll out puff pastry thinly so that you produce a large rectangular shape. Use a little flour on both your surface and rolling pin so that the pastry doesn't stick to either. Trim edges to neaten the rectangle.

4. Place the sausage mixture down the centre of the pastry leaving a good edge each side of the filling. Using a sharp knife to slit the pastry at intervals from the centre outwards. Do this on both sides of filling cutting diagonally to form a sort of chevron pattern,

5. Fold pastry strips towards the centre - firstly from one side and then from the other so that they cross each other in the centre forming a plait pattern. Brush the pastry edges with a little water so that they stick to one another. The excess pastry at both ends can just be folded in as neatly as possible.

6. Using a fork, beat together the egg and 1 tablespoonful of water. Brush the surface of the plait with this egg wash to give it a golden, shiny glaze when cooked. Place plait, using some fish slices to help you, on to a baking tin. Do not grease tin as there is enough fat in the pastry and the filling. I actually cook it these days on a sheet of baking paper to ensure it doesn't stick to the tin. Bake at 190C/170Cfan/5Gas for about 30-40 minutes. If pastry is browning too quickly, turn the heat down by about 10 degrees because although you want a nice golden crust, the filling must also be thoroughly cooked.

7. Serve warm with vegetables and gravy or a rich tomato sauce or serve cold on its own or with various salads e.g coleslaw or tomato salad. The plait freezes well. As it's such a versatile dish it's worth keeping one in the freezer for unexpected guests. 

We had most of the items required for this dish back in the 60's and 70's except that shop bought pastry was frozen rather than chilled. There was no such thing as baking paper.