British Sausage Week : Chipolata Fajitas

British Sausage Week this year runs from Monday 31st October until Sunday 6th November, and is now in its 19th year!

These days you can find so many varieties of sausage to suit all tastes and dishes, and the majority of sausages in Britain are made from fresh pork meat rather than processed meat.

I usually have a pack of sausages on the weekly shopping list as they're so versatile and can be used in so many different ways, from the good old British fry up to a more sophisticated cassoulet. By slicing sausages into bitesized pieces it's easy to make one pack stretch to feed a family of 5 too!

British sausage week promotes sausages that are made from quality or Red Tractor sourced pork from Britain. Sausages that depict the Red Tractor logo are traceable and have been produced responsibly, ensuring their quality. With this in mind, I selected some Red Tractor Asda Extra Special chipolatas to make these Chipolata Fajitas. You can find the original recipe on the Love Pork website, along with a guide to sausage etiquette - did you know that the type of sausage you choose says a lot about you!

This was such an easy dish to make for the family, and takes very little time to prepare. As it's cooked in the oven you don't need to spend time standing over the stove, and can instead get on with other things whilst it's cooking. It's definitely an easy one that the kids can get involved with making. What I loved about these chipolatas is that they weren't swimming in fat once they'd been cooked, and they are also gluten free, which is a plus point for many.

I served these fajitas with home made tomato salsa, sliced avocado and Greek yogurt, which we prefer to sour cream.

Chipolata Fajitas - serves 4

1 pack of Pork Chipolata Sausages
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red pepper, sliced
1 yellow pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced

to serve
wraps
salsa
avocado slices
yogurt or sour cream
grated cheese 

• add the chipolatas to a large bowl along with the other ingredients
• toss well to combine
• place all the ingredients on a large baking tray or baking dish
• bake in a preheated 190C oven for approx 20-30 minutes, until the sausages are browned

What will you be eating during British Sausage Week? If you're looking for inspiration, follow @LovePork on Twitter or Facebook, or take a look at some of my many sausage recipes :

Sausage pesto pasta

Butternut squash & sausage tagine

Spicy sausage & bean cobbler

Slow cooked sausages in onion gravy

Jumbo Mediterranean sausage pasty

Beef & mustard sausage rolls

Slow cooker sweet & sour sausages

Spanish sausage & mash

Fresh ravioli with sausage & chorizo

Baked full English

this is a commissioned post for Love Pork

Great British Meringue Crown with Strawberries & Pimms

Well, that's it, Bake Off is officially finished as we know it. What it's going to be like once it moves over to channel 4 & loses Mary, Mel & Sue is anyone's guess. 

I haven't managed to join in with the bakes as much as previous years for a number of reasons. I was on holiday for the first week so managed to get out of making jaffa cakes, although I may still try them at some point. Week 2 was biscuit week and I made Rhubarb & Custard Viennese Whirls. Week 3 was bread and I made a Cherry, Chocolate & Almond Bread Ring. Week 4 was batter, and I made these delicious Maple & Cajun Spiced Filled Yorkshire Puddings, inspired by an afternoon tea at Ma Pluckers in Soho. Week 5 was all about pastry and I made breakfast pastries in the form of Maple, Apple & Cinnamon Pinwheel Pastries . It all went to pot in October and I never baked anything for weeks 6-9, but I was determined that I would make something for the grand finale, whatever it may be.

Thankfully the final episode was kind to us, and I was spoilt for choice as to what to bake. In the end I decided to make a meringue crown, as I do love a pavlova.

My Great British pavlova was made up of 3 tiers of red white and blue meringue, filled with strawberries and cream and a touch of Pimms, all topped off with a gold replica (cough, cough) of Queen Victoria's crown.

I used 6 egg whites in total for the meringue (same recipe that I used here, but with increased quantities), and for the coloured layers I brushed some food colouring paste into the icing bags before filling them - I might have gone a bit overboard with the blue! I was inspired by Candice's meringue crown and piped my own over a silicone mould before spraying with edible gold spray.

I folded freeze dried strawberries into the cream for the bottom layer, orange zest in the middle layer, Pimms, mint and fresh strawberries in the top layer, more strawberries around the sides and popped the crown on top.

I am joining in with the Mummy Mishaps Great Bloggers Bake Off