Phil Vickery's sausage wreath
We’ve been in the Christmas spirit all morning - and now we’re bringing it to the kitchen. With party season underway, Phil’s here with a fun idea perfect for any festive occasion - a giant sausage roll!
Serves: 8
Ingredients
500g puff pastry2 tbsp any oil2 small onions, finely chopped2 cloves garlic, chopped100g chorizo pieces (you can buy chopped ready to cook)500g sausage meat1 level tsp allspice½ tsp ground cinnamon½ tsp ground cuminGround pepper1 egg, beaten8 tbsp dried breadcrumbsCumberland sauce, to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C, gas 4
Roll out the pastry to a rectangle approximately 30 x 45cm, then chill.
Melt the oil in a frying pan, add the onion, garlic and chorizo pieces and cook gently for about 10 minutes until softened. Leave to cool.
Place the sausage meat into a bowl along with the cooled chorizo and onion mix.
Add the spices, pepper, egg and breadcrumbs and really mix well.
Remove the pastry from the fridge and lay on baking parchment on a tray to fit, Place the mix down the middle of the pastry.
Egg one side, then fold over the un egged side to cover the meat, then fold over the egged side and roll up and seal well.
Make slits halfway through one side of the roll at regular intervals then open and tease round until you form a circle, and open slightly, twisting slightly upwards. Egg the top of the wreath to stick together.
Bake for 40 - 50 minutes or until well browned and cooked through.
Decorate with holly and place a nice bowl of Cumberland sauce in the centre of the wreath.
VARIATIONS
To make a plait
Roll out the pastry to approximately 20 x 40cm. Place the mix down the centre of the pastry.
Cut 5cm cuts towards the centre of the plait and at 2cm intervals both sides of the sausage meat in the centre of the pastry.
Now start at the top and lay over one strip from one side and one from the other (you can twist if you want) Dot with egg and press down slightly to seal.
Go all the way down and tuck the ends under.
Egg all over to seal and then bake for 45-50 minutes at 180C gas 4.
For the Chelsea/Danish pastry look
Roll out the pastry to a rectangle approximately 30 x 45cm, then chill
Once chilled, remove the pastry from the fridge and lay on baking parchment on a tray to fit, Place the mix down the middle of the pastry
Egg one side, then fold over the un-egged side to cover the meat, the fold over the egged side and roll up and seal well
Cut into 5cm pieces and place tightly together on a parchment lined pizza tray, so there is roughly 2cm gap between each one
Top each one with some pecan halves, press in slightly
Egg any pastry that’s showing and bake for 45-50 minutes