Sluttishly Savoury: Brazilian Sausage Rolls

So IN CASE YOU HADN'T NOTICED, The World Cup is happening.  So we're in need of a few more stomach liners and party nibbles to counteract the beer (or gin) aren't we?

Sausage rolls are what one would associate normally with English football. In Brazil they have a street snack called Pastel (translates simply to 'pastry'), which is a deep fried crispy envelope, which is filled with spicy beef, chicken, cheese or even banana. They look a bit like those McDonalds apple pies. You can find them all over Brazil.

You can see where I'm going here can't you? I've created a mongrel, aptly titled 'Sausage Pastels' or Brazilian Sausage Rolls'.

I've made these ones quite small because to be honest I would be arrested by nutritionists if they got hold of this recipe. They are essentially deep fried sausage rolls. Enjoy with ice cold beer and some spicy sauce.

Brazilian Sausage Rolls (makes about 20 small rolls)
Preparation Time: 30mins
Resting Time: 30mins or overnight if you have the patience
Frying Time: 10mins

You will need: 

• 300g plain flour plus extra for dusting
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp suet (or margarine)
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp vodka (this makes the pastry crisp)
• 200ml warm water 
• One pack of 6 really nice sausages
• oil for frying

Make it!

1. Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and suet (or marg). 
2. Add the egg, vodka and warm water until you get a soft dough. Kneed to form a ball, then refrigerate for at least an hour (overnight is best).
3. For the filling, just cut open the sausages and fry the sausage-meat until it's a bit crispy. Leave to cool.
4. Roll out the pastry onto a floured surface and cut out (5 inch diameter) circles with a cookie cutter (add more flour if the pastry is too sticky) to 2mm thickness. Lay a tsp of sausage-meat on one side and fold them over into crescents. Wet the edge to seal and crimp with a fork. You can freeze these and fry them from frozen (works v. v. well) or fry them straightaway.
5. Party time!