I'd forgotten this World Cup England-France game was going to happen when I invited a few friends over for mulled wine and snacks. I was dissuaded of this notion and even managed to shout at the ref a few times.
Meanwhile there was this Wellington, which is excellent served with cornichons and a bit of cheerful rage. By the way, the parma ham was 90p for five slices at Sainsbury's...
Serves 6-8, as a snack.
6 sausages, cooked
1 pack puff pastry
5 slices parma ham
100g mushrooms, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
20g butter
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp English mustard
1 tbsp cranberry sauce
½ red onion
1tbsp brown sugar
Splash of balsamic vinegar
1 egg, beaten
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius/180 fan.
2. Very gently fry the mushrooms and shallot in half of the butter with dried thyme until it breaks down into a paste, roughly 45 minutes.
3. Meanwhile finely slice the red onions and fry gently in the other half of the butter with the brown sugar and balsamic, to caramelise. About 20 minutes.
4. If your sausages are uncooked, quickly cook them in a frying pan.
5. Lay a portion of cling film about the size of a chopping board on your surface.
6. Place the slices of parma ham so they are just overlapping each other vertically.
7. Spread with the mushroom mixture.
8. Top with the sausages, in three rows of two.
9. Top with the caramelised onions, filling in any gaps between the sausages.
10. Blob with cranberry sauce.
11. Fold the parma ham slices over to cover and cling film the wellington into a parcel.
12. Chill for 20 minutes.
13. Cut the puff pastry into two rectangles, one slightly wider than the other.
14. Brush the edges of the smaller one with beaten egg.
15. Spread the mustard over the inside.
16. Unwrap the sausage parcel and lay on the mustard-covered puff pastry.
17. Place the larger piece of pastry over it and crimp to seal.
18. Slash finely a couple of times, add any pastry decorations (I did holly), then brush with egg.
19. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the pastry is puffed up and golden brown