Sausage Roll Garland Recipe

Preheat your oven to 200°C (Gas Mark 6) and take the pastry out of the fridge about five minutes before you plan to start the recipe (it’s easier to roll if it has warmed up a bit). Put the sausage meat and ground allspice into a large mixing bowl, season with a little salt and a good few turns of the pepper mill, then use your hands to mix it all together. After washing your hands, dust your work surface with a little flour and roll the pastry out into a large rectangle, roughly 30cm x 45cm. Spread a thin layer of cranberry sauce lengthways down the centre of the rectangle, making a line of sauce about 5cm wide. Dust your hands with a little more of the flour, then take the sausage meat mixture and shape it into a long sausage shape (long enough to reach almost from end-to-end when laid lengthwise on the pastry). When it’s the right length, put the sausage on top of the cranberry sauce.

Next, brush the beaten egg down one side of the pastry. Fold the other, un-egg-washed side of the pastry over the meat, then fold the egg-washed side over the top, to seal. Line a baking sheet with baking paper, then carefully lift the sausage roll, turn it over and place it on the baking sheet with its sealed edge on the bottom.

Taking a sharp knife, work your way along the sausage roll making cuts roughly every 4cm, to make 10-12 sections. You need to cut in at a slight angle from one side (make sure it’s always the same side) and cut about two-thirds of the way down through the sausage roll. Then, lift the two ends and – making sure the side you didn’t cut in from is in the centre - curve the roll around to form a circle, sealing the ends with some of the egg-wash. Working in one direction around the Garland, carefully lift and twist each cut section slightly up and over to one side (without tearing it from the main body), so it is filling-side up. Brush the pastry with egg-wash, then put in the hot oven for about 45 minutes, until the sausage meat has cooked throughout and the pastry is golden.