Homemade Sausage Rolls
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 brown onion , finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery , finely chopped
- 5 oz / 150g bacon , finely chopped (streaky and fatty, not the lean stuff!)
- 2 tsp whole fennel seeds , toasted (optional) (Note 1)
- 1 lb / 500g pork mince (ground pork) (not lean)
- 3/4 cup / 40g panko breadcrumbs (Note 2)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 2 1/2 sheets puff pastry , thawed then each cut into half (Note 3)
- 1 egg , lightly whisk
- Ketchup / tomato sauce
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Heat oil in a non stick fry pan over medium high heat. Sauté garlic, onion & celery for 2 minutes, then add bacon. Cook for a further 2 minutes (don’t brown) then transfer to bowl and allow to cool slightly.
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Add remaining Filling ingredients into the bowl. Use your hands to mix well.
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Lay out a rectangle of pastry, long edge closest to you. Brush egg along one long edge.
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Get 1/5 th of the filling and shape into a long log shape down the middle of the pastry. Ensure the meat is tight and compact, without gaps. Roll up, sealing on the edge with egg wash on it.
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If you have time/patience, refrigerate for 1 hour (makes it easier/neater to cut)
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Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
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Cut each log into four equal lengths, or just two if you want full size sausage rolls. Brush with egg.
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Place on 2 baking trays lined with baking paper (or sprayed with oil). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, swapping trays halfway, or until the pastry is deep golden brown. Note: The filling will still look pink because of the bacon, but it’s easy to tell from texture that it’s cooked.
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Cool on trays. Serve warm or at room temperature.
1. Toasted fennel seeds (optional) – heat small fry pan over medium heat. Add fennel. Shake pan and toast for 1 – 2 minutes, until you can smell the fragrance of the fennel seeds.
2. Panko breadcrumbs are Japanese breadcrumbs which are larger than normal ones. For crumbed/breaded things, it makes them even crunchier. For fillings, they make the filling less dense, more moist. You can find them in the Asian section of most supermarkets in Australia nowadays (see here for Woolworths) and even alongside normal breadcrumbs.
You can substitute for normal breadcrumbs, but reduce the quantity to 1/2 cup otherwise the filling won’t be as moist.
3. Puff pastry in Australia comes in sheets that are 25 x 25cm / 10 x 10″ squares. Cut them in half so you have five 25 x 12.5cm / 10 x 5″ rectangles.
4. To make ahead: Best assembled, cut, then frozen or refrigerated unbaked. Place in an airtight container in single layers with baking paper between each layer. Brush with egg wash just before baking (optional – could just spray with oil, helps make it golden). Bake from frozen for 40 minutes, or from fridge per recipe.
It is perfectly safe to thaw then refreeze puff pastry, it is not like meat. If you want the absolute best results, use a puff pastry made with a combination of butter and oil/shortening because it will puff up better after thawing. But the difference is negligible. Another great tip I learnt from Cook’s Illustrated!
5. Recipe originally published June 2014. Republished with new photos, new words but the same recipe (just tidied up the writing a bit!).
6. Nutrition per sausage roll. If you use low fat / turkey bacon, it reduces to 205 calories. If you use “light” puff pastry, it reduces to 150 calories.
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