Egg and Sausage Loaf Recipe

I was going to wait until we had proper picnic weather to post up this recipe which I used at out Golden Jubilee Street party but as Bert Ford no longer does the weather I don't think we will ever see the sun again, so here it is.

You will need:


4 large eggs
A pack of tasty sausages (go mad and use the posh ones, either something really herby or my fave caramelised onions... yum)
3oz grated cheddar
3tbspn of Branston pickle
12 oz of shortcrust pastry (yes, you can use the readymade but seriously it will take you 5 mins to knock it up from scratch)


Take three of the eggs and put them in a pan of boiling water, stick in either a large pinch of salt or a dash of vinegar ... if you eggs crack it reduces the amount that spills into the pan and seals the eggs v quickly.  Boil for at least six mins and then plunge into cold, cold water... this stops the iron / sulphur reaction (yep, we do chemistry just like Heston) that causes that black ring to form.


Turn on the oven to gas no 4, electric 350 or fan 180.


Make up your shortcrust pastry and reserve a third and roll out the other two thirds to fit a 1lb greased and floured loaf tin, trim off the excess and set it aside.  Now pop it all in the fridge to rest for 10 mins.


Take four of the sausages, remove the skins and press them down into the base of the loaf tin to cover it, scatter half of your grated cheese on top of the sausages, then spoon on the Branston pickle... now I have not been mean, you do not need anymore pickle as it will leach through the pastry and look gross!

Remove the eggs from their shells and put them down the middle and scatter the remainder of the cheese over the eggs.  Take the remaining four sausages, skin them and press down over the eggs.  Roll out the remaining pastry to make your lid.  


Take your last egg and beat it, using a pastry brush, paint around the edge of the loaf tin and lay the pastry lid over the tin, trim to fit.  Using the tines of the fork, work around the top of the pastry, pressing down to join the layers together ... to create a different look, you can use the other end of the fork.  Use your leftover pastry to create decorations with small pastry cutters or do it free hand, cut diamonds for leaves and score with a knife to create veins and roll up strips of pastry to create rosebuds.  Cut a cross in the pastry to allow the steam to escape when the pie is cooking so that you don't get soggy pastry.

Use the beaten egg to wash over the top of the pie, add your decoration and wash over them with egg.


Put the tin in the oven for 45 - 50 mins.

Take it out and allow it to cool, whilst it is cooling, run a knife (a small palette knife works well) around the tin, it will make it easier to turn out.  When it is quite cold, turn it out and start slicing... it is, I promise utterly delicious and a great treat for picnic... enjoy!

I live in hope...