If you like sausage rolls, then rather than buying those horrible bland (expensive) ones from the supermarket, have you thought of making your own and adding a twist?
My grandson and my daughter’s partner love my sausage rolls, probably because I like to experiment with adding different flavours to the sausage meat. I’ve got to admit, it’s led to some interesting flavours…
The ones pictured here were some I made the other day and they definitely got the thumbs up from grandson.
One thing I’ve mentioned in other posts, is yes I can make decent pastry, but if buying it ready rolled is good enough for Mary Berry, then it’s good enough for me. Buying ready made pastry is a real time saver and at the moment it’s cheap enough. Having said that, I am watching the price carefully, and if it does go too high, then I’ll start making my own again.
You’ve got two choices pastry wise with sausage rolls, Puff or short crust, personally I like to use puff pastry, however its all a matter of taste and either will do.
I buy my sausage meat from our local butcher. (Well I send hubs off to buy it for me lol). Sausage meat is not something I find supermarkets sell which is a shame, but luckily we have a great butcher in town who does some great deals. It usually works out at just under £2 a pack and is enough to make a dozen decent sized sausage rolls depending on the size you make them. The beauty of adding to your sausage roll mixture is you can also make it go further.
A roll of puff pastry from Lidl is about £1.30. Unfortunately, it’s gone up in price quite a bit since last year (I used to pay just under £1 before prices started going crazy). I’m watching the price carefully, if it does go up a lot more, then I will seriously consider making my own pastry again.
Anyway let’s look at how to put these sausage rolls together…
Ingredients
Either your home made pastry, or a pack of premade puff or shortcrust.
A pack of sausage meat
Hoisin Sauce (to taste)
Diced onions (to taste)
Dash of milk
Method
Obviously if you’ve frozen your sausage meat and pastry (As mine are in the photo image), then you need to let them defrost thoroughly. I usually leave mine out in the kitchen for a couple of hours. Make sure the pastry is thoroughly defrosted, otherwise as you unroll it, you’ll find it cracks. If that does happen, it doesn’t really matter, just lay it flat on a clean floured surface and press the cracks together with your finger, it’ll be fine. Once it’s flat, get a sharp knife and cut the pastry in half longways. Leave to one side whilst you make your sausage meat filling.
Sausage meat
Make sure your sausage meat is thoroughly defrosted. Then peel and dice an onion. I’ve been using Tesco pre diced onion recently as they have a buy 2 get one free offer at the moment. (I buy then freeze it), it’s perfect for these sausage rolls. Otherwise if you’re dicing the onion yourself, don’t worry if it’s not perfectly diced, It doesn’t affect the taste or the appearance. Add the onion to the sausage meat. I also tend to add a sprinkle of salt and black pepper at this stage.
Then add your hoisin sauce.
A couple of tablespoons should do it, but obviously add as much or as little as you want. It’s all a matter of taste. Mix everything together so it’s well combined, you’ll find it’s a bit wet, but that doesn’t matter.
Then go back to your pastry and wet the edges on both sides lengthways with a splash of milk. (This is to seal the edges).
Now comes the messy bit. flour your hands up and dig into that mixture. It won’t roll like sausage meat normally does because it’s too wet, don’t worry about it.
Take half of your mixture and lay it down the middle of the pastry length wise from end to end. Leave a border at the edges so you can seal it.
Once it’s evenly spread. on both pieces of pastry, turn one side of the pastry to the the other and tuck it well under, then press slightly down so the side you’ve coated with milk makes a firm seal. Glaze the top with the rest of the milk.
Cut them to the size you want. (I do 5-6 cm), and add them to either a very well oiled baking tray or use a lined baking tray.
You need a hot oven
200c or 180 if it’s fan assisted, gas mark 6. Make sure the oven is hot before you put your sausage rolls in there. Bake for 30 -35 minutes or until they are a nice golden brown colour.
(Note) the sausage meat should be thoroughly cooked through. If your pastry starts to change colour too early, then turn the oven down a tad. If they seem to be taking too long, then you may need to increase the temperature just a bit.
Once cooked, turn them out onto a wire tray and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
Tip
Try flavouring your sausage rolls with other sauces such as Worcester or marmite. I bet a couple of spoonful’s of chutney would give them a nice tangy flavour as well.
I’m going to experiment with some sage and onion stuffing mix the next time I make sausage rolls, so watch this space..
