3 TikTok-approved recipes for picnic season

Margie Nomura
·5 min read
From left: honey and mustard sausage rolls; mortadella, pesto, burrata focaccia sandwich with garlic confit aioli; and elderflower and raspberry jellies (Margie Nomura)
From left: honey and mustard sausage rolls; mortadella, pesto, burrata focaccia sandwich with garlic confit aioli; and elderflower and raspberry jellies (Margie Nomura)

Grab your baskets and your blankets because it’s National Picnic Month (AKA it’s summer guys, just get out there).

Nothing says dining al fresco in Britain than a sausage roll, but the recipe for honey and mustard sausage rolls below is so incredibly good you’ll want to make them all the time.

The same goes for sandwiches, as long as they’re not soggy. Sometimes you dream about sandwiches, hoping they’ll be as delicious as you dreamed. Well, the mortadella, pesto, burrata focaccia sandwich with garlic confit aioli one below is. It has crisp pesto focaccia, pesto, burrata, mortadella, rocket and a homemade garlic confit aioli.

Don’t forget dessert! These elderflower and raspberry jellies are so easy to make, transport and, most importantly, devour.

Honey and mustard sausage rolls

You’ll want to make these sausage rolls again and again (Margie Nomura)
You’ll want to make these sausage rolls again and again (Margie Nomura)

These honey and mustard sausage rolls are so incredibly good you’ll want to make them all the time. We’re using Asda’s Extra Special Orange Blossom Honey sourced from bees that feed on orange blossom in Spain and Mexico giving it a sweet citrus scent. Stirred into the filling and mixed with some fresh thyme to drizzle over the hot pastry when they come out of the oven. Just heaven!

Serves: 6-8

Prep time: 35 minutes | Cook time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients:

For the filling:

1 pack of Asda’s Extra Special Cumberland Sausages

1 heaped tbsp grainy mustard

1 tbsp Asda Honey Blossom Honey

2 tbsp chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry

1 egg, beaten

Sprinkle of sesame seeds

For the drizzle:

5 sprigs of thyme, leaves only

1 tbsp honey

For the dip:

3 tbsp mayonnaise

1 tbsp grainy mustard

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Line a baking tray with parchment.

Remove the sausages from their skins and place the sausage meat in a bowl. Add the mustard, honey, parsley and season well. Stir to combine.

Place the pastry on a board and cut in half lengthways. Divide the pork mixture in two. Place one portion of the meat on the long edge of one piece of pastry and shape into a sausage roll shape, pinching the seam and rolling it over so the seam is underneath. Repeat with the other roll.

Brush with some beaten egg. Slice into portions and scatter with sesame seeds. Place on a baking tray and bake for 25-30 mins until golden and cooked through.

For the drizzle, heat the honey gently in a pan for a minute and add the chopped thyme. Drizzle over the hot sausage rolls just before serving and serve with the mustard mayo dip.

Enjoy!

Mortadella, pesto, burrata focaccia sandwich with garlic confit aioli

This sandwich delivers on texture and flavour (Margie Nomura)
This sandwich delivers on texture and flavour (Margie Nomura)

Sometimes you dream about sandwiches, hoping they’ll be as delicious as you dreamed. Well, this one is. It has crisp pesto focaccia, pesto, burrata, mortadella, rocket and a homemade garlic confit aioli.

Serves: 1

Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

For the garlic confit aioli:

10 garlic confit cloves

1 cup garlic confit olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 egg

Pinch of flakey sea salt

For the sandwich:

2 slices pesto focaccia

1 x burrata

4 tbsp green basil pesto

75g Italian mortadella

25g wild rocket

Method:

Make the garlic confit aioli:

Place all ingredients into a glass container or jug that is just wide enough to fit a hand blender. Blend all ingredients together while slowly incorporating all of the oil. Continue until you have a thick consistency.

Store in an airtight container or jar in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Assemble the sandwich:

Cut your focaccia into thirds lengthways. Slice 1 piece of the focaccia in half. Drizzle cut side with olive oil and toast in a pan until golden.

Assemble your sandwich by beginning with a layer of the garlic aioli, a spoon of pesto, followed by slices of the mortadella, burrata, torn in two, and rocket, finished with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Top with the other half of the focaccia and cut in half. Enjoy!

Elderflower and raspberry jellies

Easy to make, even easier to devour (Margie Nomura)
Easy to make, even easier to devour (Margie Nomura)

These elderflower and raspberry jellies were always on the menu when I catered for parties and people always chose them. They were so popular, and they’re so easy to make.

Serves: 6

Prep time: 15 minutes | Cooling time: 4 hours overnight

Ingredients:

8 sheets leaf gelatin

350ml elderflower cordial

1 punnet raspberries

Cream or ice cream (to serve)

Method:

Soak the gelatin in cold water for a few minutes, then drain.

Pour 100ml of boiling water over the gelatin and stir to fully dissolve. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then stir in the elderflower cordial and 250ml of cold water. (I always wet the inside of the jelly mould if I’m planning on turning the jellies out afterwards before I add the jelly mixture).

Divide the raspberries into glasses or ramekins or a large glass bowl and pour over the liquid.

Cover and put in the fridge to set for at least 4 hours-it works best if left overnight. (If you want the berries to be suspended in the jellies, pour a third of the mixture into the moulds and set in the fridge, then add the berries so they lie on top of the set layer and pour over the remaining mixture).

To remove from the mould, if using, dip the bottom briefly into a bowl of hot water, cover with a slightly larger plate and with one confident movement, invert the mould so that the jelly lands neatly onto the plate. Serve the jelly with cream or ice cream.