Ingredients
For the mini sausage rolls
500g/1lb 2oz ready-made puff pastry
plain flour, for dusting
1 free-range egg, beaten
8 herby sausages (the best you can afford), cut in two
salt and freshly ground black pepper
small handful fresh thyme leaves
For the sun-dried tomato and rosemary palmiers
500g/1lb 2oz ready-made puff pastry
plain flour, for dusting
1 x 280g/10oz jar sun-dried tomatoes, drained and finely chopped
few sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves only, finely chopped
1 free-range egg, lightly beaten
Preparation method
For the sausage rolls, roll the pastry out on a floured surface to a rectangle of about 48x32cm/19x12½in and bash the pastry with the rolling pin a bit. Puff pastry is made of fine layers and normally you have to be very delicate with it. For sausage rolls the pastry needs to be slightly puffed, but not too much, so bashing it with a rolling pin reduces the amount it puffs up.
Cut the large rectangle in half lengthways, then cut both smaller rectangles into eight equal sections. You now have 16 rectangles in total. Brush one end of each rectangle with a little of the beaten egg, lay a piece of sausage at the other end, then season the sausage with salt and freshly ground black pepper and sprinkle with thyme leaves. Roll the sausage up in the pastry to enclose and repeat with all the sausages. Put the sausage rolls in the fridge for 20 minutes for the pastry to harden.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
Once the pastry is hard, remove the sausage rolls from the fridge and score the tops with a sharp knife for decoration, or prick with a fork. Brush the sausage rolls well with the rest of the beaten egg, avoiding the open ends of the rolls as that will stop the pastry puffing up. Bake in the oven for 25–30 minutes, or until the pastry has turned golden-brown and looks crisp. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before serving.
For the sun-dried tomato palmiers, put the puff pastry on a well-floured surface and bash it with a rolling pin (as for the sausage rolls, it only needs to puff up a little). Roll the pastry out into a rectangle about 30x35cm/12x14in and the thickness of a £1 coin. Spread the tomatoes over the puff pastry and sprinkle over the rosemary.
Roll both long edges of the pastry in towards each other so they meet in the middle. Brush a little egg down the centre to stick the two halves together. Carefully lift into a large baking tray (making sure it will fit in your fridge first) and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill and harden.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
Remove the roll from the fridge and, using a very sharp knife, slice it into 1cm/½in thick pieces. Lay each piece flat on the baking tray, and brush well with the beaten egg, then bake in the oven for 10–15 minutes until puffed up, crisp and golden-brown.
Remove the palmiers from the oven and leave to cool on the baking tray.
To serve, pile them high on a plate.