Scottish Roll and Sausage Club Sandwich

Scottish roll and sausage club sandwich with crisps and pickled onions

What is a club sandwich? There is no doubt that many reading this will think that a strange question - but the truth is, I was under a complete misapprehension until (very!) recently. Although I have heard club sandwiches referred to countless times in American TV shows or movies and read about them in American novels, for years I didn't understand the meaning. I was honestly under the impression that they referred to the particular restaurant's speciality sandwich, a bit like, "Dish of the day," or the, "House red." Via the wonders of Google and Wikipedia, I now know that it is essentially a sandwich comprised of at least three slices of toasted bread and two layers of filling.

I got to thinking therefore about how I could create a slightly different club sandwich that would be fairly quick to make, at least partly true to the original concept yet have its own distinct identity and could be made to form a reasonably substantial dinner. I finally decided to blend the fabulous concept that is the Scottish roll and sausage with the American club sandwich and see how it turned out. A Scottish roll and sausage is comprised of a morning roll, filled with a Lorne sausage (sometimes called sliced sausage or square sausage). There are frequently many other components added to the combination but in this instance, I of course used recognised club sandwich ingredients. Instead of using both turkey and bacon, I improvised and used turkey bacon. I also used delicious peashoots instead of the frequently bland (especially at this time of year) lettuce.

If you're not in Scotland and don't have ready access to Lorne sausages, you do actually still have quite a few viable options. You can buy them online from many different suppliers, you can buy the spice mix from Amazon UK (see below) and make them yourself with a combination of minced/ground beef and pork, or you can simply substitute them for burger patties as a last resort. 

Principal Scottish club sandwich ingredients

Ingredients per Serving

1 bread/morning roll
1 Lorne sausage
2 rashers/slices of turkey bacon
Small handful of peashoots
1 medium slice of tomato
1 tsp mayonnaise
Little vegetable oil for frying
Sea salt and black pepper (or flavour of choice) crisps/potato chips to serve
2 large pickled onions (optional)

Scottish morning roll is sliced in to three sections

Directions

It's a good idea to begin by doing the few small bits of necessary prep before you start cooking. Very carefully, slice the bread roll in to three equally thick pieces. Slice the tomato. A good point to note with the peashoots and other vacuum packed supermarket greens is to always wash them well in a colander under running cold water. Sometimes, the pack will say that they are washed and ready to eat but never take that for granted. You may also want to roughly chop the peashoots to make the club sandwich easier to assemble.

Lorne sausage and turkey rashers are gently fried in oil

Put a little oil in to a frying pan and bring it up to a medium heat. Add the sausage only and fry gently on the first side for four or five minutes. Turn the sausage before adding the turkey rashers, which will take a couple of minutes each side.

Scottish club sandwich fillings are ready

Lift the cooked sausage and turkey rashers to a plate with the prepared peashoots and tomato. Toast the three roll slices lightly under the grill or broiler.

Peashoots form the first layer of the Scottish club sandwich

Begin assembling the club sandwich by laying the peashoots on top of the bottom section of the roll.

Lorne sausage and mayo are added on top of the peashoots

Put the sausage on top of the peashoots, followed by the mayo and the middle section of the bread roll.

Turkey rashers and tomato form the second layer of the Scottish club sandwich

Lay the bacon rashers on next with the slice of tomato on top.

Fully assembled roll and sausage club sandwich

Crown the club sandwich with the last piece of the bread roll.

Roll and sausage club sandwich is carefully cut in half

Press down lightly and cut the sandwich in half with a very sharp knife.

Cocktail sticks are used to hold the Scottish club sandwich halves together

Club sandwiches are often served with a cocktail/hors d'oeuvres stick to hold them together. This is optional - but if using them, do remember to remove them before taking a large bite! Plate the club sandwich halves, add the crisps/potato chips and the pickled onions if required.

Scottish roll and sausage club sandwich with crisps