I love a little nibble, a canapé, an amuse-bouche….whatever you want to call it! A bite sized savoury treat to munch on before a main meal, something tasty to accompany an aperitif, to wet your appetite for more.
And is there a better time than Christmas to roll out the nibbles? When meals are at their most decadent and indulgent? We always have 3 or 4 canapés for Christmas day which get passed around whilst we open presents. After all, we graze all day long at Christmas. It would seem wrong not to have a drink in one hand and something to eat in another.
And what better way to pre-empt a traditional Christmas dinner than with an old school sausage roll! So I took this idea and thought I would tszuj it up a bit, add a little surprise to elevate the humble sausage roll into a fitting festive treat.
I had some fantastic black pudding left from my lovely local farmer friends at Enjouanisson, really rich and peppery. I mixed that up with some herby Toulouse sausage meat and I rolled that around a little sprinkled layer of chopped apple, encased the whole lot in puff pastry and ‘voila!’, I made a special Christmassy sausage roll!
These mini morsels are completely addictive. The black pudding adds a wonderful depth of flavour whilst the little nuggets of apple give juicy bursts of sweetness. They are moist, soft and totally delicious. They 
should come with a little warning so you don’t over indulge and ruin your appetite for the main meal!
And if this recipe is not tempting enough for you, I also have a giveaway of some indulgent Hotel Chocolat Christmas Selection treats! To enter, just follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget at the end of this post. The competition will close on 23rd December and is open to UK residents only. Good luck and happy scoffing this Christmas!
Black Pudding & Apple Sausage Rolls
(Made 16 sausage rolls)
240g sausage meat (I used Toulouse sausages)
200g black pudding
1 small apple. peeled, cored and finely diced
1 egg
1 pack of puff pastry
Pre-heat your oven to 180Fan/200C. Put your sausage meat in a bowl. Then peel your black pudding and add that to the bowl too. Using your hands, just get stuck in and squish it all together until well mixed.
Peel, core and chop your apple.
Divide your meat in two. Take half and roll into a long sausage and press it down until it is flat and wide using your fingers. Then sprinkle in a line of apple dice as below.
Fold the meat over the apple and try to enclose it as much as you can. This does not have to be perfect as it will taste good even if it is not quite in the middle.
Trim your puff pastry to create two long strips. Place one sausage onto each piece of pastry. Crack your egg into a bowl whisk it up. Brush one long edge with egg and close the pastry around the sausage and the egg wash will help to seal it.
Then cut the pastry into mini size sausage rolls. Place on an oiled oven tray. Brush each one with egg. Place in the oven for 30 minutes until lovely and golden.
Hotel Chocolat Giveaway Rafflecopter
I am entering these sausage rolls into a few blogging challenges. First of all, Four Seasons Food for December which I am hosting this month (alternately with Louisa from Eat Your Veg), where the theme is ‘Party Food’ so these will do nicely!
Also into #FridayFoodie hosted by the lovely Otilia from Romanian Mum Blog where the theme is also Christmas & Celebration Food.
And finally, I will pop them onto Recipe Of The Week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too.
Pass the plate over here please?! LOVE a sausage roll and with black pud and apple additions yours must be heavenly. The perfect christmas nibble I’d say, and perfect party fodder.
Lol!! Who doesn’t love a sausage roll?! These are fun and taste really good. I think they are a great festive upgrade to your usual ones 🙂 xx
Oh and in reply to your Rafflecopter question, has to be a mince pie or two for me 🙂
Yep, mince pies are just Christmas in a nibble form 🙂
Homemade Christmas cake
Absolutely! Home made with lots of love – what could be better? Thanks for dropping by.
Love sausage+apple rolls. I made a gluten free version a few weeks back…..
My favourite nibble is thai fish cakes with a sweet chilli dip!
I love pretty much anything with sweet chilli dip! Thats stuff is so addictive 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
Pigs in blankets
Irresistible indeed!
I love pigs in blankets 🙂
I have to admit….I never ever tried black pudding. But your dish looks yum so I might try it with a future opportunity…hm…who knows.
I hope that I have inspired you to try it Otilia….this is a good recipe to start with as the black pudding is mixed with sausage meat which makes it mellow and the apple adds sweetness. xx
Cheese with crackers…
I love piggys in a blanket 🙂
Sausage rolls
pigs in blankets
Black pudding and apple is a lovely combination. This would be such a great contrast to some of the very dodgy sausage rolls you get at office parties and the like at this time of year.
Hahaha!! Yes, I have had a few dodgy sausage rolls in my time. These ones are certainly a bit different and I really enjoyed them. The apple adds lovely moistness and sweetness. Happy New Year to you Phil 🙂
These look absolutely delicious, I must make these!
Thanks Anna…let me know if you give them a go and what you think! Happy New Year to you 🙂
I have never tried black pudding but you make it look so delicious in these little canapes! Merry Christmas.
This is a great way to give black pudding a go…it is tempered by the pork sausage so perhaps not quite so overwhelming for a first try as it can be quite strong. Happy New Year to you 🙂
Home made Christmas cake. I also love homemade sausage rolls 🙂
Sausage Rolls
I love mulled wine 😉
Wensleydale with cranberry on crackers. 🙂
Great twist on an old favourite – they look perfect. Thanks for linking up to #recipeoftheweek. Have Pinned and tweeted this post and there’s a fresh linky live now 🙂
Thanks Emily. I will no doubt be back with something new for #recipeoftheweek soon. Happy New Year xx
How delicious, love a good sausage roll at this time of the year. Also, your adaptation turns the little roll into something far more sophisticated! I am looking forward to French ski food, lots of Tartiflette and Raclette coming up for me. Happy Christmas Anneli!
Oooh, I like that – sophisticated sausage rolls – thank you very much! I hope you are having a fabulous time ski-ing and eating all the delicious French mountain treats. Happy New Year Laura xx
Just stumbled on your blog and really like your recipes. This one is really lovely and looks so delicious.
Thanks for sharing.
Amie
Hi Amie, thank you so much for your lovely compliment. Makes me very happy to hear 🙂 Happy New Year!
yes, yes, yes, bring it on! Blast and triple blast. Have just decided no more rich food in January and here I am reading (belatedly, it has to be said) all these luscious recipes. You are my downfall
Ha! I am proud to be your downfall! So glad you like the recipes. And I am so glad you are back blogging my Chorizo sister xx