Prosciutto Wrapped Lamb Sausages

When I first read the recipe book that this one came out if I skipped over it assuming it would require obscure ingredients, impossible to get hold of and that it would be too complicated to make. One of things that really frustrates me the most about some recipes is the excitement of proving to myself how far I have come and what I am truly capable of, and then I can’t get the ingredients to do it. A few weeks later I was looking for a recipe I had seen and wanted to try when I came across this again and decided to have a proper read of it to see what it involved, turns out it was nothing too complicated after all, the only problem was that I had to use super cheap very poor quality mince/ground lamb. We were living in Germany at the time and it was very difficult to get hold of and when you were able to get hold of it, it was extortionately expensive. Mince/ground wasn’t one of the ‘cuts’ you could buy either, although that’s not a major issue because if you can find any lamb, you can always mince you own.  However on this occasion all I could find was the cheap stuff.

Next time I make them I will make them with a better quality mince, especially as they were very tasty even with the cheap quality mince so I can only imagine how much better they will be with the good stuff. They are quite spicy so may not be too kiddy friendly, unless they like that sort of thing or you tone back the heat a little, maybe by halving the spices? I definitely recommend these, even if you have to change the recipe entirely to suit your needs. They are so much fun to make, the hardest bit to do is wrapping them in the prosciutto, which to be honest is more fiddly and time consuming than difficult.

Prosciutto wrapped lamb sausages

500g minced lamb

1tbsp coriander

1tbsp cumin

½ red onion, finely diced

½ tsp red chilli flakes

4tbsp breadcrumbs

1 egg, beaten

Salt and black pepper

12 slices prosciutto

Olive oil for greasing

1. Preheat the oven to 190˚C/375˚F. Put all the ingredients, except the prosciutto and olive oil into a large mixing bowl, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Using your hands, because it is fun! (you can use a spoon if you prefer) Mix all the ingredients together.
2. Using a set of scales divide your mince into 12 equal bits, each should weigh between 41 and 42g, keeping your hands wet as you work, roll the lamb into sausage shapes. The next step is to wrap them in the prosciutto, use one slice per sausage, unless you really need to use two, roll the sausage tightly in the prosciutto, leaving the ends open.
3. Lightly oil your baking tray and place the sausages on it. Baking them in the oven for about 20 minutes or until cooked through.

Cider Braised Sausages

I like to make even the simplest ingredients into something ’posh’! These sausages are just the posh nosh I am talking about. The good thing about this recipe is that once you’ve cooked everything in the skillet, you can pop it in the crock for later, or in a casserole dish and just leave it on the hob for an hour or so. I prefer the crock method, simply because it takes longer to cook, if you prep all the stuff and then stick it in the crock on those busy days when time is a rare commodity it’s just one less thing to worry about. It only takes about 10-15 minutes to prepare, then it goes in the crock. Hardly anytime at all and you have the rest of the day to get on with all the mundane chores, that need doing in the blissful knowledge that when the day is done, the most effort you are going to have to make to get dinner on the table is a side or two of your choice and to spoon it onto plates! Regardless though of whether you do it in the crockpot or the oven I think you’ll agree that this is a pretty good recipe. At least I hope you do.

Cider Braised Sausage Casserole

6 of your favourite sausages

425ml strong cider

1tbsp cider vinegar

2 large apples, cored and sliced into rings

1tbsp crushed juniper berries

2tbsp Olive oil

1 large onion peeled and sliced into rings

1-2 garlic cloves, depending on your taste, minced

225g smoked bacon, roughly chopped

1tbsp plain flour

1tsp dried thyme

2 bay leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

1.       Over a medium heat, in a large skillet (or casserole pot) heat 1tbsp of the oil and then brown the sausages. Once they are browned transfer them to a plate lined with kitchen paper.

2.       Add the onions, garlic and bacon to the skillet and cook for about 10 minutes, until the onions have softened and the bacon is starting to crisp. Throw away the kitchen paper and place your onions and bacon on the plate too.

3.       Next add the remaining tbsp. of oil to the skillet, when it is hot cook the apples, browning them on both sides, then put them in the crockpot with the other ingredients. Mix the flour with a little water, then add the cider, vinegar and flour mixture to the crock (or casserole) stir gently adding the herbs and seasoning with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer on a low heat, can be left in the crockpot to do its thing for several hours, if you are using a casserole dish on the hob it will take about an hour. Serve with mashed potato and veggies of your choice.

 

 

Toad in the hole....... at last

For the past four and a bit years I have done most of the cooking, every now and then Glen will take his turn to cook – the effort it takes for him to pick up the phone and order take out is astounding, I jest he does cook every once in a while and he is good at it too, not that he would admit to that. He’d be far more like to say that A) he doesn’t know where the kitchen is and B) he doesn’t know how to use half the stuff in there anyway. The kitchen is mostly my domain and I like it that way. For years I have been cooking his dinner and putting it in front of him and he would say “What is it, is it toad in the hole?” It never was of course. I bought the Nigella Lawson cookbook “Kitchen” and as I was going through it I found a toad in the hole recipe, slightly different to the usual sausages in Yorkshire pudding type recipe. I like unusual, things that don’t conform to the norm. Life is plenty hard enough trying to fit in, to be liked and accepted, it’s hard not to conform to what society expects. I admire those who look different or live alternative life styles. Most ‘normal’ people will say something like ‘they’re only doing it for attention’ or some such. To me though, it shows strength of personality, individuality and character. I am a non-conformist mentally and that’s it, practically I’m too afraid of what other people will think of me and not being liked that I do everything within my capabilities to fit in. So when something like this recipe comes along I jump at the chance to try it, so that my non-conformist ways can come out and safely exercise their liberties within the confines of my four walls, behind closed doors…… Where to be honest nothing I do is normal!

Toad in the hole

350ml Milk

4 eggs

Pinch of salt

6 of your favourite sausages

Tbsp of goose fat, vegetable shortening or oil

1.       Preheat the oven to 220˚C/430˚F. Whisk together the milk and the eggs with the salt, then add the flour and beat it into a smooth batter.

2.       Next you want to squeeze all the sausage meat out of the casings, the easiest way I have found to do this is to cut the sausages in half and then squish it all out, if you squeeze it tight and flat between your thumb and forefinger, you should have no issues completely getting all of the sausage meat, roll each half into a ball so you essentially have 12 meatballs, then squash them down a little bit, so they look like fat mini burgers.

3.       Heat your fat in your roasting tin, on the hob, brown your little fat burgers for about a minute on each side.

4.       Working quickly add the batter straight into the roasting pan and pop it in the oven to bake, it will take about 40 minutes but check on it after 30, it’s done when the edges have risen and are golden and the middle has set.

Serve with a thick gravy.

Sausage Bake

I am continuously on the lookout for new and exciting flavour combinations and because so much had been - NOT ALLOWED - anything is new to me. Cherry tomatoes may have been bought every now and again with the sole purpose of being eaten out of the packet. If I'd attempted to cook them, I would have been met by screwed up faces. Now that I am free to cook almost anything, I can experiment all I wish - and I do. I'll admit that I haven't always enjoyed everything, but with a new philosophy of anything goes I can honestly say I am no longer missing out.

 

Tomato and Sausage Bake

700g ripe cherry tomatoes

1tsp each of dried thyme, rosemary and oregano

1 bay leaf

 1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped

4 of your favourite sausages

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

 

Salt and pepper to taste

1.       Preheat your oven 190˚C/375˚F, place all the tomatoes and the sausages into a roasting pan, if you can place all your tomatoes in one tight layer and then sprinkle all the herbs on top, drizzle with olive oil and vinegar then season with salt and pepper. Carefully toss it altogether making sure that the sausages remain on top. Put it in the oven for 30 mins, take it out give it a good shake and then return it to the oven for 15-30 minutes.

2.       If the sauce is too loose when you remove it from the oven, remove the sausages and place the roasting pan on the hob and reduce the sauce a bit, to the right consistency. Return the sausages to the sauce and serve with crusty bread, rice or mashed potato.

 

 

Messy Sausage and more pasta!

Right I’ll be perfectly honest, unless you are American you may find some of the ingredients, for this next one a little obscure and hard to get, although alternatives are possible – manicotti is cannelloni pasta shells, while in America I found manicotti to be almost toblerone shaped and ridged, where as cannelloni is cylindrical and smooth, either will work equally well though. Sausage meat in Germany, from what I can tell doesn’t exist….. and if it does I haven’t found it yet, although always keeping my eyes peeled for that all elusive ingredient. So I sort of make my own, this is a perfect way round the inability to find sausage meat, it’s simple but messy – buy your favourite sausages, and squeeze the meat out of it’s skin… Hey Presto…. Sausage meat…. How cool am I?

Sausage Pasta

1lb sausage meat (that’s an awful lot of sausage squeezing)

2 cups cottage cheese
1 package manicotti or cannelloni shells
1 (26 oz) jar tomato sauce (whichever type you like)
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 tsp sage

1, Preheat your oven to 350˚F (180˚C), and grease a baking dish big enough for all you pasta. In a large mixing bowl, mix together, the sausage meat, cottage cheese and sage. Once it’s well mixed, stuff it into the pasta shells, then place in your baking dish. Top with the tomato sauce.

2, Cover and bake, for about an hour, or if you have a thermometer the centre to the shell should have reached 160˚F (80˚C).

3, Uncover the pasta bake and sprinkle with the mozzarella, and bake for a further 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and bubbling.  

Sausage risotto

Also from my School text book came this simple sausage risotto. I suppose with it being a childs school text book it should be. That said with everything I have read and seen on television, risotto is not that easy to make. So with that in mind I either have it down or I don't, in any case we quite like it, most definitely a simple supper.

Sausage Risotto

250 grams sausage

1 tbsp evoo
75 grams rice
1 onion, finely diced
100 grams mushrooms
100 grams frozen mixed vegetables
375 ml  hot water
1 chicken stock cube
salt and black pepper to taste
dash of Worcester sauce

1. Grill sausages until cook and set aside.

2. Heat the oil and add the onion and rice, stirring for about 7 minutes.

3. Add the mushrooms, frozen vegetables, stock cube, water, sauce and seasoning, simmer gently until rice is soft and all the water has been absorbed.

4. Slice the sausages and add to the rice.