I CAN’T believe I’ve not touched on the subject of sausage rolls before!

But then again, a sausage roll must be approached with a little caution these days - often prised from a miserable cellophane wrapper on a garage forecourt.

However, that suspiciously bright pink meat and greasy flabbly pastry is enough to drive anyone in the direction of vegetarianism.

It’s true to say, no one makes sausage rolls today, they lament the prawn cocktail years of the Seventies.

But some might cheat a little and use a ready-made puff pastry - and why not, it can be quite good, along with a packet of herby sausages.

Splitting open a sausage, however good the quality, is always a disconcerting experience: the skins shrinks from the knife and the interior is oddly pallid.

It’s well worth soldiering on, spooning the stuff into a bowl, and adding a cheerful handful of roughly chopped herbs and onions to make a fantastically flavoured homemade sausage meat at a fraction of the cost, saving you a bob or two.

After generously allowing puff pastry laziness over the years, it’s acceptable for me sometimes not to make puff pastry.

Yes, it’s time-consuming, with endless rolling, folding, chilling and culminating with the dreaded final instruction – ‘’rap the pastry in cling film’’ and leave in the fridge overnight.

It’s no secret that cling film is harmful to the environment, so do you ditch it for a paper bag? Should you let Piers Morgan carry on the debate along with Greggs’ Vegan sausage rolls and Megxit?

Don’t get me wrong, some sausage rolls are absolutely delicious, warm and fresh from the oven, and if you use plain sausage meat you can add extra flavours of herbs, wholegrain mustard and grated cheeses like Cheddar, Stilton or Wensleydale, along with cranberries and apple.

Once brushed with egg, you can sprinkle over the pastry with sesame or poppy seeds. As for the matter of making puff pastry, most vow not to because they remember our school Home Economics years.

Did you know it has a little sister called ‘’rough puff’’ which has defined layers, never shrinks but will never rise into roomy multi-storeys?

Having a mattress for the sausage meat to sleep on, looks impressive when baked with a thousand buttery splinters.

I think I’m going to convert back to shop-bought!

Homemade Yorkshire, Wensleydale and apple sausage rolls

Makes eight good size sausage rolls

Ingredients

500g ready-rolled pack of puff pastry

454g1lb pork sausages, skinned

100g Wensleydale cheese, crumbled into small pieces

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 small crunchy apple, grated

1 tablespoon olive oil to fry

1 egg for brushing over

Method

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, then cook the onion for around five minutes before transferring into a large bowl to cool.

2. Skin the sausages and add to the bowl with the onions, cheese and apple, and combine all well.

3. Cut the block of puff pastry in half and roll out to two long oblong shapes around 40cm/16’’ long and 15cm/6’’ wide.

4. Halve the sausage mix, and pipe or roll out along the long edge of one of the pastry strips into a sausage shape.

5. Egg wash one side of the pastry and tightly roll the meat in the pastry, finishing with the seam sealed tightly underneath.

6. Cut each strip into four sausage rolls 10cm/4’’ or whatever size you wish.

7. Place each sausage roll onto a large parchment-lined baking tray, allowing a little room between each one.

8. Allow to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes before egg washing all over.

9. Score the top of each sausage roll with the tip of a sharp knife and maybe sprinkle over some sesame seeds if you wish.

10. Bake in a preheated oven 200C/Gas Mark 7 for 30/35 minutes, until golden, crispy and cooked through, served warm.