Glamorgan Sausages

Brown sauce. . . . . .bliss!

I grew up in Wales, on a hill farm, three miles from the nearest village and a million miles away from the idea of vegetarianism. You can imagine how surprised I was when, in my twenties I discovered Glamorgan sausages; sausage shaped and delicious, they were and always had been meat free.

Ask the average member of a meat eating household if they eat vegetarian food and the likely answer is no and yet in the UK we do have dishes which are served to the family, with no meat in them, we just don't label them as vegetarian. Cauliflower cheese, is a good example and clearly in the south of Wales, in Glamorgan, this sausage is another. If you have the odd crust of some good sourdough bread, these sausages offer a perfect opportunity to transform the bread into something delicious, excellent served with what one of my grandmothers called ponch meip, whereas the other grandmother from 21 miles away, called stump, a blend of swede and potato, cooked together and mashed with butter and seasoning.

Welcome Chile! bringing the number up to 127.

For this recipe you will need;
125g of 2 or 3 day old sourdough bread
200g of cheddar cheese
1 small, (50g) onion finely chopped
2 large eggs
4 sage leaves
1 teaspoon of mustard powder
Bouillon powder or salt
Lots of freshly ground white pepper.

Begin by making the breadcrumbs, I do this in the food processor and I add the sage leaves so that they get chopped up finely and become evenly distributed. Add the cheese and process until that too is finely grated and evenly mixed. Finally add the chopped onion, eggs, mustard and seasoning, I find a teaspoon of bouillon powder or 1/2 teaspoon of salt is enough. Process for no more than half a minute to produce a coarse paste.
At this point it's entirely possible to take tablespoonfuls of the mix and roll in some plain flour and fry gently until golden brown, however I like to form the sausages into more perfect shapes by placing a tablespoonful onto a sheet of clingfilm and rolling it up, before twisting both ends to form a tight sausage shape. I tie the ends together which secures them. I then poach them in simmering water for 10 minutes. At this point you can cool them and leave them in the fridge until you need them (up to 3 days). Unwrap the sausages and fry them gently in a little oil until golden brown on all sides.

Notes:
The forming of these using clingfilm may feel like too much effort, but it takes less than 10 minutes and the result is very pleasing. I do think it also creates a better crust to the sausage once fried.
You can vary these sausages by adding different herbs, using leeks or spring onion in place of onion and of course using other cheeses.