Glamorgan sausages, Selsig Morgannwg in Welsh, are vegetarian and have been eaten in Wales since at least the middle of the nineteenth century. Caerphilly, leek and breadcrumbs bound with egg, rolled into sausages and fried. There is no casing and there never was. They got popular in the war years for the obvious reason: no meat, and stale bread put to work.
Cheese and honey is an old pairing. Truffle sits in the middle of it and makes the whole thing taste like it took longer than it did.
45 mins, 30 of them in the fridge. Makes 8.
Ingredients
- 200g Caerphilly or a crumbly white cheddar, grated
- 150g Fresh breadcrumbs
- 2 Leeks, white part only, sliced thin
- 30g Butter
- 2 Eggs, one whole and one separated
- 1 tsp English mustard
- 1 tbsp Thyme leaves
- 50g Dry breadcrumbs, for coating
- 2 dessertspoons Plateit Truffle'd Hot Honey Drizzle
- Oil, salt, plenty of black pepper
Method
- Butter in a pan, leeks in with a pinch of salt over low heat, 8 mins, until soft and sweet with no colour. Cool them completely. Warm leeks melt the cheese early and the mix goes greasy.
- Cheese, fresh breadcrumbs, leeks, thyme, mustard, the whole egg and the egg yolk, salt and a lot of pepper. Bring it together with your hands.
- Divide into 8 and roll each into a sausage about 8cm long and 3cm thick. Roll them on the bench, not in your palm, so the sides stay even.
- Fridge 30 mins on a lined tray, uncovered. This is the step that holds the shape in the pan. Skip it and you have made patties.
- Egg white whisked loose. Sausages through it, then rolled in the dry breadcrumbs.
- Shallow fry in oil over medium heat, turning every 90 seconds so all sides colour, about 6 mins in total. Medium, not high, or the crumb burns before the cheese goes molten.
- Onto a plate. Plateit Truffle'd Hot Honey over them while they are still hot enough to loosen it.
Do this: Cool the leeks properly and chill the sausages properly. Those two steps are the whole difference between a sausage and something that spreads into a fish cake.
Serve it with: Piccalilli or a sharp chutney is traditional. A dressed green salad does the same job.
