Sausage & Lentil Rolls

Take your pastry out of the fridge and leave to come up to room temperature.

In a medium sized saucepan on a medium heat add a glug of olive oil and allow to heat up.

Add the finely chopped red onions and 1tbsp of vinegar and allow to gently soften for around 4 minutes, make sure you don't burn the onions.

Next add in the minced garlic and season with a pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper, gently soften for another 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Last add in your herbs and spices and give it a good mix through for another minute, remove pan from the heat and allow to cool.

In a large bowl add the pork mince and the lentils, add salt and pepper to season and using your hands combine well together so the lentils are distributed evenly throughout the pork.

Take your puff pastry and roll it out flat so it's a large rectangle, then cut down the middle to create two long rectangles. 

Add the cooled onion mixture from the pan to the mince and lentils and using a wooden spoon combine it well together. Take half of the mince mixture and place it in a long line 2/3rds of the way to one side of one rectangle of your pastry, mould neatly into a sausage shape so you have room to pull the longer side of the pastry over the top. There should be around an inch space on one side and two and a half inches or so on the other.

Note: If it looks as though you can't pull over one side of the pastry then simply use a little less sausage meat for the centre, don't overfill it and compact it as neatly as possible into a straight even sized line. 

Add beaten egg wash to the long side of the rectangle that is thinnest (1 inch wide), then carefully pull section by section of the longer side of the pastry over the top of the sausage meat. You will have to stretch it out slightly as you work, if you create any small holes, simply patch them up after. Then gently attach it to the egg washed side to seal the roll. Using a fork, go along the edge and press down section by section to ensure it's securely sealed all the way across.

Preheat your oven to gas mark 6 or around 180 degrees (fan). Transfer the rolls to the fridge and allow to set for 10-20 minutes. This will make them easier to move and cut into pieces. 

Remove the rolls from the fridge and cut each one into four equal pieces, the best way to do this is to gently mark a faint cut line in the centre using a knife then working outwards do the same on the left and right so you can get them all the same size. If you want even smaller 'party' sized rolls, simply cut again in the centre of the four you've made. 

Take a baking tray and line with greaseproof paper/parchment. You can spray with a little oil if you want to ensure the rolls don't stick. Place your rolls evenly over the tray, leaving about an inch gap between each so they have room to 'puff'. Using a knife gently score the top of each roll about three times, so as to not go right through the pastry. Then use the remaining egg wash to coat the rolls all over.

Bake the rolls for 35 minutes until cooked through and golden on top. 

Leave to cool for about 5 minutes then tuck in! :)