A party just isn’t a party without a sticky sausage or three, and these are joyously seasonal. And nor do I stop here with this sweet, warm, sharp glaze: the ingredients can also be used as a marinade-cum-cook-in sauce for either 30 chicken wings or 20 small spare ribs, with equally lipsmacking results.
Makes 50
cocktail sausages 50
Thai or Chinese sweet chilli sauce 125ml
cranberry sauce 60ml, from a jar
soy sauce 60ml
dark brown sugar 1 x 15ml tbsp
clementine or satsuma juice of 1
lime juice of 1
Preheat the oven to 180C fan/gas mark 6.
Put the cocktail sausages in a foil-lined roasting tin.
Mix the chilli, cranberry and soy sauces in a measuring jug and whisk in the sugar along with the clementine (or satsuma) and lime juices.
Pour the glaze over the cocktail sausages and turn them so they are evenly coated, before putting the tin in the oven for 30-40 minutes, with a gentle turnover after 20, by which time they should be hot, burnished and gorgeously sticky. (If you’re cooking chicken wings or ribs, having marinated them overnight in the cranberry-chilli-soy goo, you will have to up the cooking time: the wings should need about 45 minutes; the ribs 1 hour.)
When serving, provide cocktail sticks and napkins, or make sure you have finger bowls or babywipes to hand.
Make ahead tip
Put all the sausages into a large, sealable bag (or glass bowl) and add all the other ingredients. Shake or stir everything together until the sausages are well coated and leave in the fridge for up to one day. When ready to use, just tip everything into cooking tray and cook as directed.
Freeze ahead tip
Make ahead as above and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
From Nigella Christmas by Nigella Lawson (Chatto & Windus, £27)
