Puff Pastry Sausage rolls

This is just a quick post about one of my all time favourite foods, the sausage roll. If you have no idea what a “sausage roll” is, then I would ask you to please read on.

A traditional British savoury snack, dating back long before the equivalent of the US hotdog. The bun is instead pastry, the filling is sausage meat, and once baked is generally served hot, but are equally tasty cold.

The recipe is simple enough, and is one that readily lends itself to interpretation, amendment and change. I will not claim this to be the best recipe, but I will claim that these are the absolute bestest I have made this week. What I like about this recipe is the ease it comes together, requiring only vague measurements. There is no need to stress over a little extra of this or that here.

The pastry I used is the pre-made, pre-rolled, frozen variety available in any supermarket, and the filling is made in the food processor, so is also convenient for those wary of their knife skills.

The pastry used is usually puff, but a shortcrust works really well, which was how my mum would make them. The sausage filling is limited only by your options for available sausages or sausage meat. Even no-meat vegan sausages make good sausage rolls. in this instance for the photos I used a beef sausage mix.

For the filling you will need about 500g or 1lb of good quality raw sausage meat. Usually this would be beef, but may be pork, lamb or a combination. The meat can be either bought as a lump, or you can buy some raw sausages and squeeze the filling from the casing. The latter is a little messy but can certainly expand your options on flavour.

If you are buying from a good butcher, they will make their own sausages, so may have some sausage meat in the flavour you want in their cold storeroom. It is therefore worth an ask what they have, and what is in it. The conversation with them may add further ideas and will only improve the final quality.

NOTE – This recipe includes Carrot as well, and just like the argument of so many ingredients to so many dishes, ( Pineapple pizza) it is a personal taste, not a rule. If you wish to make these but want to leave the carrot out as its ‘wrong’ by all means do so.

ALSO NOTE – there is no added salt to this recipe! Sausages are usually full of salt, so there is no need for more.

Recipe

Ingredients

Metric	Imperial	Item
4 sheets 30 cm by 30 cm	4 sheets 12 inch x 12 inch	Puff pastry sheets – the pre -rolled and frozen type (defrost them before starting)
500g	1 lb	Sausage meat – as per notes above
1	1	Small to Medium Onion
1	1	Large Carrot
2	2	Slices of bread – or 100g – 1 cup Breadcrumbs
20ml	1 Tablespoon	Tomato ketchup/sauce – the stuff that goes on hotdogs
5g	1 Teaspoon	Dried thyme – Fresh if you have it
1	1	Egg – for glazing the pastry

Method

1. Turn oven on to 200C, 400F Gas Mark 6 , grease two baking trays and line with baking paper.
2. Peel and roughly chop onion, and place in bowl of food processor
3. Rip up the bread, and add to bowl with the ketchup and herbs.
4. Blend, blend, blend . The consistency should be fairly smooth with no big lumps.
5. Peel and grate the carrot directly into the bowl, and add the meat and blend briefly to combine.
6. Lay out the pastry and cut each sheet in half so to make to equal rectangles
7. [I suggest wearing kitchen gloves for the next bit] Divide the mix into eight roughly even lumps and form into a long cylinder along the centre of the pastry. Repeat for all 8 rectangles.
8. Crack the egg into a bowl and add a few drops of water, and lightly mix
9. Brush the egg onto the pastry on either side of the meat , then roll the pastry from one side over the meat to the other
10. Cut the rolls into half for large rolls, half again (1/4) for small rolls, or half again (1/8) for cocktail rolls. Place pastry seam side down on the prepared trays with space around each one.
11. Brush the top with the egg and bake in the preheated Moderate hot oven at 200C 400F Gas Mark 6 for 30 to 35 minutes depending on your oven.
12. Try not to eat then straight away, but allow to cool for at least five minutes on the tray.
13. If you have any left once cold, they should be stored in the refrigerator and will last 4 days.