Sausage (chicken & vegetable) rolls

Sometimes having children enables me relive my own childhood, especially favourite school canteen moments. There’s something so Proustian about a school-like sausage roll. Sadly, I’ve never been able to replicate them, although I suspect that’s not a bad thing, given preservatives, dodgy meat and the like. Instead I have a tendency to make vegetable filled meat rolls, and I alternate the meat I use between chicken, pork and beef.

I made these chicken sausage rolls because I wanted to have a stash in the freezer for when I don’t have the patience to cook (read: because I really fancied eating them and could use the kids as an excuse). Took some to Little Nic this afternoon. My belly did not need to eat that many. Some kids liked them a lot. Others weren’t fussed. The adults, however, were big fans. Pick your audience I say. This recipe made 24 – 30 small sausage rolls. Can’t remember if I cut each roll into 4 or 6 pieces.

Holly, this is for you.

2 tablespoons olive oil
I leek, thinly sliced
2 x small carrots, peeled and finely diced
1 stick celery, finely diced
2 small zucchinis, finely diced
6 button mushrooms, finely diced
Worscestershire sauce
1 egg
6 cruskits, crushed to fine crumbs
200g (1/2 can) creamed corn
500g chicken mince
Tomato sauce
Worscestershire sauce
4 sheets puff pasty
1 egg for egg wash.

Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan.
Add leeks and sauté over low heat until soft.
Add the vegetables in the following order ensuring that they are coated in the oily mixture of the preceding vegetables before adding the next one: Carrots, celery, zucchini, mushrooms
I would like to add salt, but as they’re for the kids…. add a few generous splashes of Worcestershire sauce.

Once all the vegetables are nice and soft pour the mix into a sieve over a bowl to cool down and strain any excess oil.
Meanwhile:
Put the chicken mince in a big bowl and use a fork to break it up
Add the vegetable mix, cruskits, creamed corn and egg, a few generous squirts of tomato sauce and stir to combine.
Cut each sheet of puff pastry in half and place a thick-sausage-sized portion of mince, the length of the pastry, on each half.
Roll pastry over and gently press shut.
Place logs onto baking tray (lined with baking paper)
Bake for 30 – 40mins at 180 degrees.

Lamb with Mediterannean stir fry

Mark’s away at the moment and that usually means that I cook for the kids and end up eating toast three times a day. Well that and snacking on all sorts of rubbish because I’m never satisfied by the toast.

So today, instead of purchasing the intended lamb cutlets from the butcher, I decided to pick up a couple of lamb back straps and eat dinner with them. A proper dinner, not just their left overs.

I brushed the lamb with olive oil and seasoned it with some salt. Seared it in a hot pan, two-three minutes on each side then put it aside covered in foil to rest.

Then, inspired by the 'carrot pasta’ from the woollies ad I julienned two carrots, one zucchini and a red capsicum.

A splash of olive oil was heated in a frying pan, the carrots were added along with half a clove of garlic (crushed) , stirred around for a bit then followed by the zucchini then the capsicum, a handful of fresh peas and a few quartered cherry tomatoes. Stir, stir, stir. Added a splash of balsamic vinegar and a bit of water and allowed it to bubble for a minute or two until vegetables were softened, liquid reduced then stirred through some finely chopped basil. Sliced up the lamb and placed it on the vegetables.

It looked a treat plated up and would not have been amiss at a table full of adults (albeit with crunchier veg).

Of course super-guts-Lexi ate it. But Zach, oh Zach gave me an “mmmmm, this good mama”.

High praise indeed.