Mini Footy and Hole-in-one Savoury Bites

In this recipe, the humble sausage roll has been transformed into themed food to give Dad a tasty treat! Featured in the September 2011 edition of CathFamily E-Magazine.

Ingredients:

• 500g thin sausages
• 1 egg
• 2-3 ready-made puff pastry sheet.
• Tooth picks or small skewers
• Sticky labels

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 Celsius/375 Fahrenheit.
2. Lie a sausage on the edge of the pastry with 1 cm overhang at each end. Roll the sausage up until the pastry overlaps. Trim off the excess and set pastry aside for the next batch.
3. To assemble the hole-in-ones:  Cut the roll about 3 cm from the end. Pinch the pastry closed at the end to seal it.  Set it on the baking tray with the golf-ball facing up and press down to flatten the bottom. Do the same to the other end of the roll.
4. To assemble the footy: Using the middle section of the roll, cut into two parts (or three if your sausages are particularly long. Set the sausage rolls on the baking tray with the seal on the bottom. Cut thin strips from the excess pastry and place on top to look like laces.
5. Repeat with the remaining sausages. Brush the pastries with beaten egg.  Bake in the oven 10-15 mins until pastry is golden.
6. Cut flags from sticky labels (1 cm x 2.5cm) and attach to the blunt end of the toothpicks, sticking the flag to itself.  Trim to make triangular flag shapes. Insert the finished flags into the ‘golf balls’ when cooked. Arrange the pastries on a platter and serve with tomato sauce on the side.

Author: Francine Pirola

For more from this edition, check out:

• The Daddy Difference
• Pope John XXIII’s Prayer for Fathers
• Couple’s Corner
• Father of the Year