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sausage star tarts – how to cheat at christmas canapes and why…

23 December 2013 by Dominic Franks

… the simple fact is: you want it to taste and look amazing but you’re not prepared to hang around in the kitchen for longer than you need and quite frankly why should you… whilst everyone else is merry-making in the lounge and the air is becoming flammable with the levels of alcohol being consumed why should you have to be the domestic goddess that everyone assumes you to be… and now we all know that the original goddess has a little ‘help’ to perform why shouldn’t we… and no, I’m not necessarily advocating a cruise to Columbia anytime now but I am telling you to cheat just a wee bit, to help it all go a little easier… you can then emerge from the kitchen, perhaps with a little stage-flour in your hair, carrying a tray of golden sausage stars and take all the glory knowing full well you didn’t really do very much to make these little canapes of joy…


sausage and veggie sausage star tarts
so, my advice to you is to buy the swankiest ready-made puff-pastry you can get your hands on and use the poshest shop-bought stuffing mix to make these little beauties and then, of course, claim them as your own… in the essence of fairness i’ve opted for stuffing bought from two of the UK’s best supermarkets… the sausage stuffing from Waitrose is made with apricots and almond slithers and in-fact you could make this very simply yourself… whilst the veggie stuffing is with apple and cranberries from Marks and Spencer… the puff-pastry is an all butter puff pastry sheet made by Jus-Rol, available from all good supermarkets…

all you need is a 24 mini muffin tray, a star cookie cutter and about 15 minutes

pre-heat the oven to 160C and unroll your pastry

cut out 24 stars and gently press them into your muffin tray

tear off little bits of sausage meat or veggie stuffing and plop them down into the shaped stars

bake for 10 mins or until golden and cooked through

here’s wishing you all a very merry christmas and hoping you eat and of course, enjoy!

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Filed Under: Vegetarian Tagged With: christmas, jus-rol, sausage rolls, stuffing, waitrose

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Comments

  1. Fiona Maclean says

    23 December 2013 at 9:23 am

    laughing at you in your kitchen goddess outfit. Move over nigella there's a new cook in town.

    This is much the way I cook all the year round, lots of cheating and lots of feasting. Life's too short (unless there's more champagne)

  2. Sally Sellwood says

    23 December 2013 at 11:22 am

    Brilliant, just brilliant!

  3. Anne Szadorska says

    23 December 2013 at 4:22 pm

    Oh wish I had saved some mix from making sausage rolls at the weekend, they look so cute and fabulous! Definitely an idea I will be making for myself! (And it kinda justifies the mini muffin pan!)

  4. Kate@whatkatebaked says

    23 December 2013 at 6:39 pm

    Happy christmas to you and Mr V too! What a lovely, easy and tasty festive canapé Dom

  5. Suelle says

    23 December 2013 at 9:13 pm

    Very ingenious, and cute looking too!

    Merry Christmas!

  6. Baking Addict says

    23 December 2013 at 10:51 pm

    Genius! Happy Christmas x

  7. bellini says

    23 December 2013 at 10:59 pm

    we all need shortcuts during the holidays. we need to make life simpler.

  8. Phil in the Kitchen says

    23 December 2013 at 11:30 pm

    Just perfect for enjoyment without the pain as well as impressing without too much effort. (I could do with something impressive – I've made very few preparations so far). Be careful with the stage-flour, though – white powder could be misunderstood in the light of recent events.

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About Dom In The Kitchen

My name is Dominic, I am a cook, food writer and creative event producer. I write the food blog Dom In The Kitchen and also write a monthly recipe column for Lincolnshire Life Magazine and Good Taste Magazine. I also run creative event production company The Persuaders, producing global events for brands since 1997. I am based both in the small village of Belleau in Lincolnshire and the smaller village of London! Read More…

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