Having found myself with some stale-bread-turned-breadcrumbs at my disposal today, I was running through the various things that I could do with the breadcrumbs and hit upon the excellent idea of using them to make some glamorgan sausages for dinner. Glamorgan sausages are a type of a meatless sausage originally developed in Wales in the 19th century and revived during WW2 because of the general shortage of meat due to rationing. They have also been referred to as a “Poor Man’s Sausage” because of the lack of meat therein. However, it would be a distinct shame if these sausages were only ever considered as an option where meat was either not available or not affordable, because they are quite worthy of consideration in their own right. (But, hey, even if the recession is the motivating force behind getting these sausages on your plate, you will, I think, be glad once they get there!)
Glamorgan Sausages
This particular version is from Rachel Demuth’s lovely Green World Cookbook
You’ll need:
- 150g wholewheat breadcrumbs (or use gluten-free breadcrumbs if you’re avoiding wheat/gluten)
- 150g strong cheddar cheese
- 6 spring onions, finely sliced, including the best of the green part (alternatively, substitute young leeks)
- 2 tblsps chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tblsp chopped fresh sage (or use up to 1 tsp dried sage)
- 1 tsp vegetable bouillon powder
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 0.5 tsp paprika
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 eggs, yolks and whites separated
- polenta for coating the sausages
The Steps:
- Whiz the breadcrumbs, cheese, spring onions, parsley, sage, bouillon powder, mustard, paprika, black pepper and salt in a food processor. (With the cheese and bouillon powder, I find that these really don’t need much, if any, in the way of added salt).
- Add the egg yolks and mix. The consistency should be soft and malleable, but not sticky.
- Divide into about 8 or 9 similar sized pieces (whatever number makes it easiest to divide amongst the intended eaters). Roll the pieces into sausage shapes.
- Dip the sausages in egg white and roll them in polenta.
- Shallow fry in oil until crisp and golden.
- Serve with onion gravy and mashed potatoes for the full (veggie) bangers and mash experience or try with some sweet fruit chutney.
The Results:
- Sausages for 3 or 4 people (the original recipe says 4 but I’ve found that 3 of us easily scoff the amount that this tasty recipe makes).
The Variations:
- Try substituting 0.5 tsp of dried thyme for the sage (as many other recipes for these sausages seem to do, though personally I really like the sage flavouring)
Oh, those look great! I’ve always wanted to make my own meatless sausages, but never got around to finding an appetizing recipe. I’ll definitely try this one.
i love meatless burgers and sausages so i’m sure this would be delicious! hooray for making use of leftover bread!
These look marvelous! It’s recipes like these that serve as reminder that food need never go to waste. Thanks for introducing me to something new.
The Other Tiger: do try!
kickpleat: they are tasty – kindof like stuffing but in a sausage shape – and a great use for leftover bread
Tangled Noodle: You’re welcome, as always :)
These look gooooooood! I’ve never tried making them before but they’re on my to-do list now – tasty and economical is a combination that can’t be beat :-)
Thanks for the recipe…my husband and I are going meatless for a few weeks just for kicks and because we consumed too much over the holidays…this way we don’t feel like we are missing anything.
Yum! These are so my cup of tea. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Ooh, they do look good. Would it be in bad taste to dip them in tomato sauce, d’you think? Or maybe a little chilli chutney…
Oops, there I go drooling on the keyboard again…
Wow! I’ve never heard of these before but they look great!
These look fantastic. I bet the cheese adds some great flavour.
jen: it’s a pretty good combination alright!
gastroanthropologist: counteracting the holiday excess seems like as good an excuse as any to try these out :)
Lori: You’re welcome!
English Mum: neither of those would in bad taste at all – I can certainly personally verify that a green tomato chutney goes down a treat with these… now I just hope you haven’t started drooling on the keyboard again :)
Joie de Vivre: …and they taste great too :)
Marc: Yep, the cheese flavour definitely adds to it – a nice mature cheddar is great in this
Spud- Your the man…now this is going on my ‘Foods2Try’ list…I love to learn this WWI history and see those fantastic looking sausages! Thanks, oh and once in an Indian cooking class I used cardamom in a mango ice cream…my South Indian friends mother was visiting and she said she was amazed at the flavor, I love that spice!
Oh, I’m bad…I was just assuming you are of the ‘male’ persuasion…so sorry if I offended…
I happen to be of the female persuasion Chef E, but no offence taken, none at all – my blog name doesn’t necessarily make it clear whether I’m Mr., Mrs. or Ms. Spud for that matter! (and I’m with you in the cardamom fan club – mango ice cream with cardamom, bring it on!)
Well you are still my Spud Bud- female is fine with me- and now that I see these again. I am coping this down, and making it with some veggie soup, maybe like hush puppies? You know me always my own twist, and if you make those cookies, shoot me an email I hope you read that I have not made those in years, and I altered the original recipe which I can send you using all white flour- also can you tell me what you use that fu fu flour for? Thanks -Elizabeth
I had to take a quick look here on Wikipedia to find out what hush puppies were (the only hush puppies I’d ever heard of were shoes, lol!) – but now that I know otherwise I’d say these sausages could be treated a bit like little Southern fried cornbreads alright! Meanwhile, will definitely let you know if I get to trying those cookies with the quinoa. As for the fufu flour, the only thing I tried (besides what was in the original post) was to flatten the fufu dumplings and fry them – kindof like fried potato cakes (there I go, spuds again) – they weren’t bad but all that starch went a bit gluey and chewy with the heat. Have yet to experiment further…
Recipe is quite adequate with a few foreign adulterations.
BUT the origin is definitely NOT the wartime meat shortage.
These are mentioned in George Borrow’s Wild Wales, published 1862
Hi Bill and thanks for the clarification, always happy to be enlightened as to recipe origin. Coincidentally I am off to Wales tomorrow so I shall see if I can find some authentic Glamorgan sausages while I am there.