Sausage rolls

Makes 4

(Jason Lowe)

Sausage rolls are a relatively cheap lunchtime snack, but do avoid buying cheap sausage meat; either buy good quality Cumberland sausages and cut them open and use the meat inside or, if your butcher makes sausages, then he's the man for your sausagemeat.

A combination of cheap sausage meat and poor puff pastry could produce disappointing results – rather like the examples you find on the high street – but if you take the trouble to use proper butter puff pastry (Jus-Rol make a good version which is widely available in supermarkets) and great quality sausage meat, then you're guaranteed a memorable sausage roll.

250-300g good quality sausage meat
150-200g butter puff pastry, rolled to about a third-cm thick
1 small egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6.

Mould the sausage meat into 4 sausage shapes with lightly floured hands. Cut the puff pastry into 2cm wide strips and wrap around the sausage meat, overlapping slightly.

Place on a baking tray, brush with the beaten egg and bake for about 20 minutes until golden. Add a ripe Conference pear for the perfect packed lunch.