Sausage rolls are quick and easy idea for the kids to be able to make themselves or with just a little help. They are great for entertaining and the kids love it when we have people over and they can say they made the yummiest dish.

You can use any sausages you like. For most of these I recommend pork sausages with a smooth sausage meat, but with so many great varieties on the market now you can experiment.

My grandmother always boiled her sausages first. She used to prick them lightly and boil them for around 10 minutes. I don't do this, but depending on the sausage, it can make your sausages taste smoother, and of course you don't have to worry whether they are completely cooked through or not as the boiling will take care of most of the cooking time. If the sausages are quite fatty boiling can also render out some of the fat.

When I was a kid we used to squeeze the sausage meat out of the casing. This was quite a messy process but great fun, kids love the gooey-ness. I have to confess – I take the quicker and less messy option and just leave the casings on. If you have boiled your sausages the casing will peel off quite easily.

Ingredients

• 1-2 sausages per person (my husband will usually eat two)
  
• 1 sheet of ready made puff pastry per 4-6 sausages (this will depend on the size of your sausages)
  
• ketchup

Directions

1. Pre-heat you oven to 180oC / 350oF.
   
2. Cut your pastry into strips the same length as your sausages.
   
3. Place a sausage on the pastry strip near the edge and put a line of ketchup down the sausage.
   
4. Roll the sausage in the pastry.
   
5. Cut the pastry just where it overlaps.
   
6. Place the sausage roll on a baking tray (non stick or lined with a sheet of baking paper) with the overlapping pastry on the bottom.
   
7. Continue until all your sausages are wrapped and spaced evenly on the baking sheet.
   
8. With a good quality ready made puff pastry you won't normally have to brush it with egg or milk, but brushing with a little egg wash or milk will give a shinier finish.
   
9. Put a few diagonal cuts down each sausage roll for decoration.
   
10. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden.

Variations

• Replace the ketchup with BBQ sauce, mustard, Mexican salsa or a sauce of your choice
  
• Before baking cut your sausage roll into two or three pieces to make smaller 'party sized' sausage rolls
  
• Use ready made croissant dough instead of pastry for an extra flaky coating
  
• Add vegetables, for example defrosted spinach, grated zucchini or mashed left over peas, down the side of the sausage before rolling
  
• cut the pastry into long strips and wind them around the sausage, slightly overlapping on each wind to create a spiralled effect
  
• sprinkle grated cheese over your pastry before baking to add a cheesy crust
  
• use a hot dog sausage
  
• use cocktail sausage, cut your pastry into squares, place a cocktail sausage diagonally across each square, add your sauce, pull one corner over the sausage and then the other corner over to make a nice variation

Serve with home made potato chips, coleslaw and extra ketchup.