Spicy Sausage Pasties

Makes 4 pasties

for the pastry:

200g plain flour

55g butter or margarine

55g suet

pinch of salt and pepper

3-4 tbsp cold water

for the filling:

1 tbsp chilli olive oil

½ small onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp sundried tomato paste (or tomato purée or ketchup)

100g tinned pinto beans, drained but not rinsed

200g good quality, skinless pork sausages

25g frozen peas, defrosted

½ tsp chilli powder (or to taste)

salt and pepper

1 egg, beaten

1.  Firstly, make the pastry. Put the flour, butter, suet and salt and pepper into a food processor and pulse until it resembles fine breadcrumbs (or, by hand, put it into a bowl and rub the butter and suet into the flour).

2.  With the processor running, slowly add the water through the funnel, a little at a time, until the mixture just comes together in a ball (or add the water a little at a time into the hand mixing bowl, stirring with a metal knife until the dough binds together).

3.  Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

4.  Now make the filling. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the onion for about 5 minutes until softened, then stir in the tomato paste.

5.  Add the sausages and fry for about 5 minutes, breaking the sausagemeat up with the back of a wooden spoon, until browned and cooked through.

6.  Stir in the chilli powder, peas and pinto beans and season with salt and pepper. Leave to cool.

7.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out the flour until it is the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut out 4 x 16cm discs, using a saucer, re-rolling the trimmings as necessary (I got a snazzy pasty cutter/folder/crimper thingy in the charity shop for about 40p, hence the pasty-making :-)

8.  Pile 1 heaped tablespoon of the sausage mixture into the centre of each disc. Brush the edges with beaten egg, fold over and press down to form a seal. Pinch the edges together and brush all over with beaten egg. Top with a grind of fresh black pepper.

9.  Chill on a lightly floured baking sheet until ready to bake, or for at least 15 minutes.

10.  Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden.

Serve hot or cold.

Murkey Meatloaf

This rustic meatloaf is loosely based on the Wartime Mock Turkey (Murkey) recipe from The Open University's Wartime Farm.  I have adapted it into a meatloaf, rather than trying to shape it like a turkey! The apple makes it really tasty.



Serves 6-8

450g good quality rustic, skinless pork sausages

400g bread, whizzed or grated into breadcrumbs

(I save crusts in the freezer,

so used a variety of wholemeal & rye bread)
350g apples, cored & grated
250g onion, grated
200g streaky bacon
1 rounded tsp dried thyme
½ tsp sea salt
1 large egg

1.  Preheat the oven to 170°C.

2.  Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with your hands by kneading and squeezing.

3.  Oil and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper, then line with the strips of bacon, leaving enough to top the packed meat. (I didn't line my tin with baking paper & the bacon stuck... Hence the 'rustic' appearance in the photo!)

4.  Fill the lined tin with the meatloaf mix, packing down well. Finish off with a layer of bacon, pressed down firmly.

5.  Top with a piece of foil over the top and tuck the edges under well.

6.  Place in the oven for 1 - 1½ hours, or until thoroughly cooked through (check with a meat thermometer).

7.  Allow the meatloaf to rest for 20 minutes in the tin, covered with foil, before turning it out.

Serve, cut into slices, hot or cold.