BBQ Diaries; Sausage Rafts with Pesto

BBQ sausages that are black on the outside and raw on the inside are a thing of the past once you learn zonal cooking. Arranging your charcoal on one side gives you a high-heat ‘direct zone’ for flame-grilling, while the ‘indirect zone’ (away from the coals) is lower in heat, cooking the meat through like a smoky oven.

Greendales sausages are big and meaty, with a variety of flavours to choose from - my absolute favourites are the Devon Chutney and Tomato & Basil flavours. The ‘rafts’ in this recipe are simply sausages held closely together with skewers, creating a platform for any topping; this allows plenty of room for creativity with different sausage flavours and toppings, but the deal-breaker is always some melted cheese on top, for absolute flavour heaven. Serve the rafts however you like, be it in baps, wraps or rolls like a hotdog; on their own with a side salad; as the star of the show in any BBQ platter; or with mash and peas for an epic ‘BBQ bangers and mash’ dinner. My own favourite accompaniments are oven-baked baguettes and some beery onions (onions sliced and sweated down with butter and a glug of beer).

I’ve experimented with different flavour combinations, and absolutely loved what pesto brought to the party. Ready-made pesto from a jar or pot is easiest to use and it’s the perfect consistency for this recipe, but if you want to make your own pesto, be sure to use less oil so it’s not overly runny - we want it to stay on the Sausage Rafts and not dribble off.