Great Shropshire Sausage Challenge winner is revealed

We laid down a sizzling challenge to amateur county cooks to come up with a brand new sausage recipe – and the winner of the ‘Great Shropshire Sausage Challenge’ has now been crowned.

Sylvia Davies, from Donnington, submitted three of her favourite recipes for the competition, run by G.N. Badley & Sons, based in Gibbons Road, Telford.

And it was her full English breakfast in a banger – Lincolnshire pork, a mix of smoked and unsmoked bacon, and egg – which was crowned the winner.

Sylvia visited the family-run butcher’s store to sample a batch of sausages made to her recipe, which have been on sale at the shop as part of UK Sausage Week, which runs from October 29 to November 4.

They are already in great demand - The Arleston Inn Hotel in Telford has already ordered a batch to include on their menu, and Horsehay-based catering company JC Catering is also taking delivery of a batch.

More than 400 of the sausages also sold at the G.N. Badley & Sons shop during their first two days on sale.

Director Kay Badley said: “The great British sausage has never been more popular – and that’s partly because there have never been so many different recipes for sale.

“We wanted to offer customers something fresh and different for UK Sausage Week – and that’s why we laid down the challenge to Shropshire people to come up with an exciting new recipe.

“The competition was a great success. We had lots of very different recipes submitted, from chicken and beefburger to barbecue themed recipes.

“After shortlisting our favourites, we made them up and cooked them in the shop, and after giving them a taste test, we chose Sylvia’s recipe as our winner.”

Sylvia, who produces her own sausages thanks to a home-made sausage maker and has a background in the buffet catering industry, said she was delighted to have won the competition.

“You can make sausages with pretty much anything. Pork sausage meat and beefburgers, mixed with onion, make a lovely sausage. So does a patty-style mix with liver in it.”

Of her winning recipe, she said: “I really like the idea of a breakfast sausage with two sorts of bacon. The egg is included to bind it all together. I think it really works.”

Kay Badley added: “We’re always looking for new ideas to add to our sausage menu, so it’s great to be able to promote Sylvia’s winning recipe.

“Our current top sellers include sage and red onion, a hot Spanish blend, cracked black pepper, Cumberland, Old English, and a spicy chilli recipe – in UK Sausage Week, our sausage sales have been up by around 20%, which is great news.”

G.N Badley & Sons makes an average of 120kgs of plain pork sausage every week for sale at their Telford shop – plus a further 10kg of flavoured sausage.

The family-run business has been running since 1976, and was voted one of the top three butchers in Shropshire in a competition run by the Shropshire Star earlier this year.