Recipe Club's British Puff Pastry Sausage Plait with Bison/Beef Breakfast Sausage OR Mushrooms & Chestnut Filling (Veg) (GF)

A British American listener to Dave Chang's Recipe Club took pity on American breakfasts and submitted his English family's recipe for a traditional Sausage Plait (meat pie) for its "Breakfast Sausage" challenge. The traditional English meat pie is satisfying on so many levels that over two million per week are sold through the United Kingdom's Greggs bakery chain alone. It was easy to make, almost impossible to mess up, adapted to whatever filling you might prefer, and tasted dee-licious. 

I made one version with Force of Nature's bison/beef breakfast sausage and another vegetarian option with mushrooms and chestnuts. I found a video on how to plait the pies too late for this photo, but it didn't matter. Call it a "poor man's beef wellington" if you like, but the quick preparation time and ease of using pre-made puff pastry makes this dish so accessible you won't be disappointed. 

My Paleo Marin Rating: 

Bison/Beef Plait: 5 Persimmons 

Vegetarian Plait: 4 Persimmons

Ingredients:

For the Bison/Beef Meat Pie:

1 Package Pepperidge Farm frozen puff pastry, or geefree gluten free puff pastry (2 sheets)

Proper Sausage Plait

1 tablespoon olive oil + 1 tablespoon butter (plus more as needed for sautéing)

1 Package Force of Nature Bison/Beef Breakfast Sausage (14 oz), or similar product of choice

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon thyme, leaves only, finely chopped

1 teaspoon rosemary, leaves only, finely chopped

4 tablespoons tomato purée

Juice from 1 lemon

1 egg, beaten in small bowl, set aside

For the Vegetarian Pie:

1 Package Pepperidge Farm frozen puff pastry, or geefree gluten free puff pastry (2 sheets)

1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Breakfast Sausage from Force of Nature

1 cup mushrooms, finely chopped

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, sliced

2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only, finely chopped

2 sprigs rosemary, leaves only, finely chopped

1 teaspoon mustard of choice

1 cup chestnuts, precooked and finely chopped, such as Matiz Organic Chestnuts here

1/2 cup breadcrumbs (packaged pre-made, or about 4 slices of Italian loaf, toasted)

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 egg, beaten in small bowl, set aside

Directions:

For the Bison Meat Pie:

Remove puff pastry from freezer to thaw at room temperature. Preheat oven to 400º F. Note: I highly recomend watching this video on how to plait sausages before you start.

1. Add the olive oil and butter to a large frying pan over medium heat. Spread out the sausage meat and separate with a wooden spoon as required to break up the meat. When the meat is cooked through, set aside in a bowl. 

2. Add more olive oil if necessary and sautee the onion for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic for about a minute. 

3. Add the red pepper flakes and herbs and cook for a minute. Add the tomato puree and lemon juice and mix. Add the cooked sausage meat and stir it all together. Set aside to cool.

4. Carefully place one of the sheets of puff pastry out on a lightly-floured piece of parchment paper. With a rolling pin or your fingers, flatten it out a bit but maintin the rectangular shape. Place 1/2 of the filling down the center of the pastry, keeping a 1" border at each end. Generously brush the edges of the rectangle with the egg wash.

5. If you can't view the video on how to plait, I'll do my best to explain: Using a pastry cutter or a sharp knife. remove a vee shaped notch 1" inside the 4 corners of the dough to form a bottom and top flap. Make diagonal cuts away from the filling to the edge of the dough about 1" apart. Fold up the bottom and top flaps of the dough, then place the strips across the middle of the filling, adding more egg wash as necessary to secure the ends.

6. Repeat steps 4-5 for the second plait.

7. Move the plaits on the parchment paper to a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden on top.

Matiz Organic Chestnuts link here

Slice and serve warm or at room temperature. Wrap any extras in plastic wrap and store in fridge for a few days (gently reheat at 350º F for about 10 minutes when ready to eat).

For the Vegetarian Pie:

Remove puff pastry from freezer to thaw at room temperature. Preheat oven to 400º F. Note: I highly recomend watching this video on how to plait sausages before you start.

1. Add the olive oil and butter to a large frying pan over medium heat. When the butter foams starts to subsite, add the chopped mushrooms and sautée until cooked through, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Remove cooked mushrooms to a bowl and set aside.

2. Add the onion to the pan and cook over medium heat until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add more oil is necessary. Add the garlic and sautée for another minute. 

3. Return the mushrrom to the pan and add the chestnuts, herbs, bread crumbs and mustard. Cook off any excess liquid, and set aside to cool.

4. Carefully place one of the sheets of puff pastry out on a lightly-floured piece of parchment paper. With a rolling pin or your fingers, flatten it out a bit but maintin the rectangular shape. Place 1/2 of the filling down the center of the pastry, keeping a 1" border at each end. Generously brush the edges of the rectangle with the egg wash.

5. If you can't view the video on how to plait, I'll do my best to explain: Using a pastry cutter or a sharp knife. remove a vee shaped notch 1" inside the 4 corners of the dough to form a bottom and top flap. Make diagonal cuts away from the filling to the edge of the dough about 1" apart. Fold up the bottom and top flaps of the dough, then place the strips across the middle of the filling, adding more egg wash as necessary to secure the ends.

6. Repeat steps 4-5 for the second plait.

7. Move the plaits on the parchment paper to a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden on top.

Slice and serve warm or at room temperature. Wrap any extras in plastic wrap and store in fridge for a few days (gently reheat at 350º F for about 10 minutes when ready to eat).

For original Michael Freestone's Sausage Plait recipe, see YouTube video here (recipe below intro).

Vegetarian Sausage Plait adapted from Supper in the Suburbs recipe here.

#paleo #recipeclub #davechang #majordomomedia #sausage #sausageplait #bison #beef #breakfastsausage #breakfast #mushrooms #chestnuts #Britishpubfood #snacks #lunch #recipes #dinner

*My Paleo Marin Rating between 1-5 Persimmons

I try out these recipes so you don't have to (and modify them for Paleo where possible). The rating will reflect my opinion of the final result in terms of taste, ease of preparation, nutrition, and sometimes, cost.