I am very grateful to Nigel Slater for demonstrating this recipe on one of his TV shows. It provides a quick and easy, but nonetheless impressive, snack for unexpected guests as well as a perfect picnic dish or light(ish) lunch. You will need:-

A 375g sheet of ready-made butter puff pastry
400g sausages
2tsp fennel seeds
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten
Flour, for rolling out the pastry

• Preheat your oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6
• Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the pastry to 30x20cm/ 12×8″
• Remove the skins from the sausages and spread the meat over the pastry, leaving a small border around the edges
• Season the meat with salt and freshly-ground black pepper and sprinkle on the fennel seeds
• Brush the edges of the pastry with a little beaten egg
• With a long side facing you, roll both of the short sides of the pastry in towards the centre brushing the pastry with beaten egg as you go
• Cut the roll into finger-thick slices and lay these on a baking tray, brushing them with any remaining beaten egg
• Bake for 15 minutes or until golden

Now try, if you can, to resist the temptation to start eating these before they have had a couple of minutes to cool down a bit!