Cooking With Kids: Sausage Rolls

Cooking With Kids: Sausage Rolls
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I happen to be the world's worst cook. I've made food so bad that we've had to bin it and order emergency pizza. But this sausage roll recipe is completely idiot proof, brilliant for messy, squidgy making and baking fun, and takes 40 minutes from start to finish.

It will also cost you less than £5 to make.

Plus, and this is the best bit, it can work for sleepovers as entertainment and there is minimal washing up.

I also sneak vegetables into my sausage rolls so my daughter gets her five a day and doesn't even know it. The best ones are cooked parsnip, butternut or swede, and tiny tomato slices.

When my daughter had her first ever sleepover during half-term, I created two separate piles of ingredients so they could each create their own special sausage rolls. We kept some of the extra bits of pastry to make the first letters of their names and they then stuck these onto their sausage rolls so they knew which ones they made.

You can even cut your sausage rolls into mini-rolls which are brilliant for lunchboxes and afternoon snacks. Although you do need to give them a minimum of 5cm in width as they shrink as the pastry puffs, and can collapse as they cook.

With my recipe I tend to cheat on the pastry. I don't have time to create my own so I simply buy the Ready-Roll Puff Pastry from my nearest store. However, if you have your own recipe you can easily use it here.

Super Scrummy Sausage Rolls

1 red onion

6 pork sausages

Handful of breadcrumbs

250g of puff pastry

1 egg

A splash of milk

A scoop of butter

Dash of thyme or basil

Preheat the oven to 180 C/ Gas Mark 4/ 350 F.

Chop the red onion into small pieces and fry these on a very low heat for about 20 minutes.

They need to be really soft and golden so use your discretion, I've sizzled them for 15 minutes when in a rush.

While the red onion is cooking, squeeze the sausage meat out of the pork sausages into a mixing bowl. The easy way is to slit the skin, the fun way is to spend happy, messy minutes squidging the meat out of the ends.

Drop a handful of breadcrumbs into the bowl along with the cooled red onions and the spice of your choice. Then use your hands to squelch the ingredients together thoroughly.

Roll your puff pastry out until into the shape of a large rectangle that's about 1cm thick. Cut it down the middle to form two thinner rectangles and shift them apart a little to create some space.

Blend the egg and the splash of milk in a measuring jug and brush the pastry with the mixture.

Divide the sausage mixture into two even portions and roll these into sausage shaped lengths.

Place the sausage mixture along the centre of each rectangle and then carefully fold the pastry over, sealing it by pressing the edges of the pastry together.

Cut the super sized sausage rolls into your desired lengths, brush the tops with your egg mixture, and cook for 25 minutes until golden.

Serve with baked beans and a smug expression.