Growing up, I loved eating sausage rolls. I remember my first experience with such fondness. I was in first grade and going to a school where students had to bring their own lunch. One day I saw this thing that looked like bread but different. I took a bite and was kind disappointed because it just kinda tasted like bread and nothing else. I started debating whether I should throw it out or continue eating it. Cos as much as I love bread, at least with regular bread you would have some kind of spread on it whether its butter, jam, peanut butter etc. This bread did not have any of those things. I told myself to take one more bite and then make a final decision. I did and then my mind was blown. I had taken a bite of the meat center along with the pastry. I don’t remember the exact flavor profile but I remember it was delish and wanted more of it. It became the dish I requested the most from my mom.
Here in the US, there are tons of places you can find sausage rolls but I missed eating the classic British version. But am I grateful that I used to live and work in NYC cos a few years ago I discovered Myers of Keswick (located in the West Village neighborhood), a small grocery store that offers traditional British foods made in England, well other than fresh dishes like sausage rolls, Cornish pasties, Scotch eggs etc.
I went through a period where I went there a lot but now that I eat mostly alkaline foods, sausage rolls are out. Although to ‘fess up, I will admit that I had a leftover sausage roll from my class last week on Friday. But in my everyday, I do not eat land animal protein.
Anyway to get back to sausage rolls, the kiddos had a blast making them. Please check out the recipe below.
Heat oil in a non stick fry pan over medium high heat. Sauté garlic, onion & celery for 2 minutes.
Add garlic and continue to cook for a further 2 minutes (don’t make bacon golden) then transfer to bowl and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
In a medium bowl, add the ground beef,
Bacon and onion mixture, breadcrumbs and the rest of the herbs and dry ingredients.
And finish off with the egg. Use hands to mix well. Set aside.
In the meantime, cut the puff pastry sheets (we used Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry) into 6 rectangle slices. Roll them out so that they are a little wider on the short ends.
Divide the sausage mixture into 6 portions.
Roll the mixture into a log and center it on the dough. Brush one of the long edges with egg wash. Then cover the sausage mixture with the non-egg wash side first, making sure it is snug around the sausage. Then take the egg wash side and cover the sausage from the other side. The egg wash side should overlap the non-egg wash side a little bit. Pinch the dough together to get a tight seal.
Turn the sausage roll over so that the seam is face down. Brush the sides and top with the egg wash. Place in a pre-heated oven for 30+ minutes.
And voila!
For this class, I had trouble finely chopping the bacon as you can see above. But the kiddos loved the sausage rolls never the less. I did learn that you need to freeze the bacon first before you can do that.
We had much better success after first freezing the bacon.
Sausage Roll
Ingredients
- 1/2 tbsp EVOO
- 4 cloves garlic finely minced
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 celery stalk finely chopped
- 5 oz bacon finely minced (the easiest way to do this is to freeze the bacon in single layers first)
- 1 lb ground pork or beef
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- Black pepper to taste
- 2 sheets puff pastry thawed, rolled and then each sheet cut into 3rds
- 1 large egg lightly whisked for egg wash
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- 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 make bacon golden) then transfer to bowl and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- Add remaining filling ingredients into the bowl. Use your hands to mix well.
- Lay out a rectangle of pastry, long edge closest to you. Brush egg along one long edge.
- Get 1/6th 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.
- Brush edge of pastry with egg. Then roll up, finishing with the seam side down.
- Roll up, sealing the edge with egg wash.
- If you have time/patience, refrigerate for 1 hour (makes it easier/neater to cut)
- Cut each log into four equal lengths, or just two if you want full size sausage rolls. Brush the top and sides with egg wash.
- Place on baking trays lined with baking paper (or sprayed with oil). Bake for 30 - 35 minutes in total, swapping tray shelves at 20 minutes, or until the pastry is deep golden brown.
- Cool slightly on trays. Serve hot or warm with tomato sauce or ketchup!