Sensational Sausage Rolls

Ahh the humble sausage roll...we can buy them as a quick meal or snack at every sporting venue in this great land.  Personally, I am not a huge fan of this national snack as they are usually cheaply made with gristly pork; most often frozen; and wrapped in perforated plastic for commercial pie warmer readiness.

Still, the sausage roll is not to be ignored when homemade and enjoyed by children - young and old.  For this reason, I make my own version of a sausage roll and pop them in the freezer to be taken out the night before for my kids' lunches.  

My recipe has amazing flavour and smells out of this world when baking in the oven.  Sadly, I can't eat them due to the copious amounts of butter used to make puff pastry but they don't last long on a plate with dairy lovers.  For those of you faced with this butter dilemma then simply make the pork filling into a meatball to take for a cold lunch or to add to a pasta salad or zucchini noodle salad. I add the buckwheat flour to absorb the juices that would otherwise bubble out of the yummy filling.

Printer Version

• 1 kg. good quality pork mince
• 2 carrots, peeled and grated
• 2 apples, peeled and grated
• 1 medium sized zucchini, grated
• 2 small onions, minced
• 4 small garlic cloves, minced
• 2 small Bird's eye chillies, finely chopped
• 4 Tbsps. buckwheat flour
• 2 1/2 tsps. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 2 tsps. fennel seed
• 5 - 6 sheets of puff pastry, cut in half
• 1 egg, beaten

Peel and grate the veggies.  Roughly peel and chop onion and garlic; in a food processor; mince with chillies and fennel seed.  Add all the ingredients to the large bowl with the pork mince and mix thoroughly to combine.  

Defrost puff pastry and slice 5-6 sheets in half.  Evenly apply the sausage roll filling, lengthwise, across the middle of the pastry sheet. Roll and seal with beaten egg where the two edges meet.  Cut roll into four even pieces and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper; repeat until remaining filling is used.

Brush all the uncooked sausage rolls with remaining beaten egg and place in preheated oven.  Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit/ 200 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes until golden brown.  Makes approximately 40-48 mini sausage rolls.