Easy Sausage Rolls

Easy Sausage Rolls

When buying sausages for the family, I find that one pack is not really enough for the 4 of us and 2 packets are too many. So I decided to use up my left over sausages productively this week by making sausage rolls.

What you need:

• Some sausages - I had 9 leftover chipolata sausages
• A packet of ready made frozen puff pastry. Defrost and let it get to room temperature
• 1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees

Roll out the pastry to about 40cm by 30cm.

Cut it into 3 long strips 3 x 40cm by 10cm

Take the skin off the sausages and lay them along the length of the pastry strips

Egg wash one side of the pastry strips and roll the pastry around the sausages

Cut them into small sausage roll sizes, so about an inch long

Put them into the fridge to let the pastry harden a little, about 20 minutes

I scored my pastry on the top, but that's more for decoration than anything else I think.

Egg wash all the exposed pastry

Cook in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown

Elizabeth had these in her packed lunch the next day!

Colourful Chicken Risotto

I have said previously said that my girls are fussy eaters. Technically Elizabeth is the fussy one and Rebecca copies. However, Rebecca is usually more willing to try new things, especially when Elizabeth is not around. So my new cooking challenge is to introduce new food to Rebecca at lunchtimes during the week when Elizabeth is at school.

Today I tried Colourful Chicken Risotto from The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook by Gill Rapley & Tracey Murkett.

I have never tried risotto, it's not a dish that appeals to me, but as Rebecca is such a great fan of rice I thought I would give it a go. How hard could it be... (nicknamed the "Death Dish" on Australian Masterchef)?

The recipe is as follows:

1tbsp olive oil
25-50g butter
1 small onion chopped or sliced
200-300g chicken diced (I used one chicken breast)
750ml chicken stock
1 small red pepper sliced
1 small courgette sliced
1 handful of sweetcorn tinned or frozen
250g risotto rice
2tbsp Parmesan cheese grated
Pepper for seasoning

Method:
Heat the oil and butter in a large pan. When the butter is melted, add the onion and fry until soft. Add the chicken, fry until it is sealed.
Put the stock on in separate pan (a small one will do).
Add the peppers & courgettes to the chicken, fry for about 3-4 minutes until they are beginning to soften. Add the sweetcorn. Add the rice, mix it in until it is all coated with the butter/oil mixture.
Add the stock one ladleful at a time. Mix until the liquid is absorbed. Then add the next ladleful and mix until it is absorbed into the rice. Repeat this until the rice is plump but still has a bite and the overall consistency in the pan is creamy (this took me about 30 minutes).
Take the pan off the heat, stir in the Parmesan cheese and black pepper.

The overall result was ok. I'm fairly sure I cooked it correctly. It was creamy and silky, but not really to my taste or Rebecca's. I did enjoy the veg and chicken though but I think I'll stick to long grain and basmati rice.

I give this meal 4/10.

Froggy Dip

A simple lunch idea inspired by a recipe in Annabel Karmel's My Favourite Recipes.

I'm always on the lookout for new meals to try with the girls. I assembled this creation for their lunch and half expected to be eating it all myself, but they loved it!

Of course you could substitute any of the items from the salad for your own preference, but here's what I used:

• carrots
• cucumber
• red pepper
• toasted pitta bread
• mini bread sticks
• houmous dip, with cucumbers and sliced green olives for the face. I've also done this with cream cheese to dip into. Annabel's recipe uses avocado dip.