Chef Thomas
A Proper Ploughman's Board
A board of good cheddar, thick ham, proper pickle, hard-boiled eggs, and crusty bread. Not cooking so much as assembling with conviction, and one of the finest lunches the English kitchen has ever produced.
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Sausage and Apple Plait
Created by Chef Thomas
Sausage meat and sharp autumn apple braided in butter pastry, baked until the kitchen fills with sage and the top turns the colour of an October afternoon.
Appetizers & Snacks
British
Potluck
Picnic
25 min
Active Time
35 min cook•1 hr total
Yield6 servings
October. The apples on the tree at the bottom of the garden have come in all at once, as they always do, more than anyone can eat, and the kitchen smells of them: sweet, cidery, faintly floral. This is the week I make this plait.
It's a simple thing. Good sausage meat, a sharp apple diced small, some sage from the pot by the back door. You lay it down the middle of a sheet of puff pastry, braid the edges over, brush the top with egg, and let the oven do the rest. Half an hour later the pastry is burnished and puffed and the filling has gone sticky and savoury with pockets of soft, sweet apple running through it. It slices cleanly. It travels well. It feeds a crowd without you having to stand in the kitchen all afternoon.
I've taken this to more picnics and suppers than I can count. It arrives whole, gets put on a board, and somebody cuts the first slice before you've even taken your coat off. That's the mark of something worth making. There are few better feelings than watching people eat something you've carried in from the car, still slightly warm, wrapped in a tea towel.
A recipe is a conversation, not a contract. If you haven't got sage, use thyme. If the apple is a Granny Smith instead of a Cox, that's fine. A little more mustard if you like heat. Your kitchen, your rules. We're only making dinner.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
all-butter puff pastry
Quantity
1 sheet (about 320g)
ready-rolled
good sausage meat
Quantity
400g
or sausages with skins removed
eating apple
Quantity
1 large (Cox or Braeburn)
cored and finely diced
fresh sage
Quantity
1 tablespoon
finely chopped
Dijon mustard
Quantity
1 teaspoon
fine sea salt and black pepper
Quantity
to taste
ground nutmeg
Quantity
pinch
egg
Quantity
1
beaten, for glazing
sesame seeds or nigella seeds (optional)
Quantity
scattering
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| all-butter puff pastryready-rolled | 1 sheet (about 320g) |
| good sausage meator sausages with skins removed | 400g |
| eating applecored and finely diced | 1 large (Cox or Braeburn) |
| fresh sagefinely chopped | 1 tablespoon |
| Dijon mustard | 1 teaspoon |
| fine sea salt and black pepper | to taste |
| ground nutmeg | pinch |
| eggbeaten, for glazing | 1 |
| sesame seeds or nigella seeds (optional) | scattering |
Equipment Needed
- •Large baking sheet
- •Baking parchment
- •Sharp knife for cutting the pastry strips
- •Pastry brush
Instructions
- 1
Make the filling
In a bowl, mix the sausage meat with the diced apple, chopped sage, mustard, nutmeg, and a good grinding of salt and pepper. Use your hands. A spoon won't do. You want everything evenly combined, the apple spread through the meat so every slice gets a pocket of sweetness. Don't overwork it. Mix until it holds together and stop.
If you can only get sausages, split the skins with a knife and squeeze the meat out. Choose ones with a high pork content and some character. Cheap sausages full of rusk will give you a sad, grey filling. - 2
Shape the filling on pastry
Unroll the pastry onto a lightly floured baking sheet lined with parchment. Shape the sausage mixture into a long, even log down the centre of the pastry, leaving a good margin on either side and at both ends. The log wants to be about as thick as your wrist, compact enough to hold its shape. Flatten the top slightly so it doesn't dome too much as it bakes.
- 3
Plait the pastry
Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry either side of the filling into diagonal strips about two centimetres wide, angling them slightly upward. Trim any excess pastry at the top and bottom, then fold those ends in snugly over the filling. Now cross the strips over the filling, alternating left and right, tucking each one neatly under the opposite side. It doesn't need to be perfect. A slightly rough braid looks more honest than a tight one. Tuck the last strips under the plait and press gently to seal.
If the pastry gets warm and soft while you work, slide the whole tray into the fridge for ten minutes. Cold pastry plaits better, bakes better, puffs better. Patience here pays you back in the oven. - 4
Glaze and finish
Brush the whole plait generously with beaten egg. Get into the crevices. The egg wash is what gives you that deep, burnished gold. Scatter sesame seeds or nigella seeds over the top if you like. They add a gentle crunch and make it look like you've thought about it, which you have. Put the tray in the fridge for fifteen minutes while the oven heats to 200C (180C fan).
- 5
Bake until golden
Bake for thirty to thirty-five minutes, until the pastry is deeply golden and the kitchen smells of sage and butter and something you want to eat immediately. The pastry should be firm and crisp when you tap it, not soft or pale. If the top is colouring too fast, lay a loose sheet of foil over it for the last ten minutes. Let it rest on the tray for at least ten minutes before slicing. The filling needs time to set, otherwise you'll cut it and the whole thing will sigh open.
A good test: if the pastry underneath is still pale and damp, it needs longer. Check by lifting a corner with a palette knife. The base should be golden and dry.
Chef Tips
- •The sausage meat matters more than anything else here. Find a good butcher who makes their own, or use sausages with a high pork content and real seasoning. The filling is only as good as the meat you start with.
- •Use a sharp, crisp apple, not a soft one. You want it to hold its shape in the oven, giving you little bursts of sweetness against the savoury meat. A Cox, a Braeburn, even a Granny Smith. Avoid anything floury or woolly.
- •This is as good at room temperature as it is warm. Better, some would say. The pastry firms up, the flavours settle, and it slices more cleanly. Don't rush it to the table.
- •If you're making this for a picnic, let it cool completely, then wrap it whole in parchment and a tea towel. It'll hold beautifully for hours. Slice it when you arrive.
Advance Preparation
- •The filling can be made the day before and kept refrigerated. In fact, a night in the fridge gives the sage and mustard time to settle into the meat.
- •The whole plait can be assembled, covered tightly, and refrigerated overnight, then glazed and baked the next morning. Ideal if you're taking it somewhere.
- •Once baked, it keeps well at room temperature for a day or in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat gently in a warm oven to crisp the pastry back up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 140g)
Calories
440 calories
Total Fat
30 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
15 g
Cholesterol
100 mg
Sodium
740 mg
Total Carbohydrates
29 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
14 g
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