serves
6
prep
30 minutes
cook
1 hour
difficulty
Mid
serves
6
people
preparation
30
minutes
cooking
1
hour
difficulty
Mid
level
Ingredients
- One batch of Paul Hollywood’s puff pastry (recipe)
- 300 g chestnut mushrooms, trimmed (see Note)
- 2 tbsp thyme leaves
- 30 ml sunflower oil
- 25 g unsalted butter
- 2 red onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tsp soft brown sugar
- 3 tsp sherry vinegar
- 300 g top-quality sausage meat (or skinned butcher’s sausages)
- 100 g black pudding, cut into 1–2cm pieces
- Beaten egg, to glaze
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- Salt and pepper
If making the puff pastry, you will need to start that a day ahead of making the plait.
Instructions
1. Heat your oven to 200°C/gas 6. Line a large lipped baking sheet with baking parchment (some butter may leak out of the pastry).
2. Put the mushrooms in a food processor and season with salt and pepper. Pulse until the mushrooms are broken down to a rough paste. Add the thyme and give the mix a final pulse.
3. Put the mushroom mix into a dry frying pan on a medium-high heat and cook, stirring often, until all the moisture has evaporated from the mushrooms. Remove from the pan and leave to cool.
4. Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in a wide frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add the onions with the sugar and cook slowly until they very soft and sweet. This will take at least 20 minutes. Once caramelised, stir in the sherry vinegar.
5. Roll out the pastry into a rectangle, about 26 cm x 30 cm, and place on the prepared baking tray. Spread the mushroom paste down the central third of the pastry, leaving a 5 cm gap at the top and bottom.
6. Mix the sausage meat with the black pudding, mould into a long sausage shape that will fit on top of the mushroom paste and place it on the paste. Spread the caramelised onions on top of it.
7. Cut 2cm strips all the way down the pastry on each side of the filling. Take one strip over the filling from one side, then one from the other and so on, crossing the strips over to form a plaited effect. Tuck the ends of the pastry under the plait, trimming off excess if necessary. Brush the plait with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
8. Bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Leave to settle for 10 minutes or so, then serve hot or cold. This is delicious with a dollop of apple sauce on the side.
Note
• are browner and with an earthier taste that the common button mushrooms. You could also use portabella or cremini.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
