Sausage Rolls

A good quality pork sausage raw, not the cooked sausage links; not suitable for Italian....a very very mild breakfast sausage will due after you add the spices...or you could make your own.

1 tablespoon butter
1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
a sprig of fresh sage, leaves picked
a handful of breadcrumbs
fresh nutmeg, for grating
6 good-quality pork sausages (see note above also remove casing and roll into logs)
250g ready-made puff pastry
1 egg
a little milk

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the onions. Cook gently for about 20 minutes until soft and golden brown. Add the sage leaves, cook for a couple of minutes more and then spread out on a plate to cool.

With a sharp knife, slit the skins of the sausages and pop the meat out. Put it in a mixing bowl with the cooled sage and onion mix and the breadcrumbs, then scrunch well with your clean hands to mix together.

On a floured work surface, roll the pastry out into a big rectangle as thick as a pound coin and cut it length ways into two long, even rectangles. Roll the mixture into sausage shapes with your hands and lay along the center of each rectangle.

Mix the egg and milk and brush the pastry with the mixture, then fold one side of the pastry over, wrapping the filling inside. Press down with your fingers or the edge of a spoon to seal the join.

Cut the long rolls into the sizes you want and space them out on a baking tray. Brush with the rest of the egg wash and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until puffed, golden and cooked through. Serve with piccalilli and a cress salad.