Veal & Pork Sausage Rolls

As promised the first recipe from the party I catered for. These sausage rolls are loved by the young, younger and even young at heart.

5 1/2 sheets of ready made Puff Pastry
1 kg Veal & Pork mince
1 large Spanish Onion
2 Eggs (1 egg will be used as an egg wash on the pastry)
1 1/2 teaspoon of Sweet Marjoram (chopped roughly)
1 teaspoon of Thyme
2 tablespoons of Tomato paste
2 tablespoons Tomato sauce (Ketchup)
3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 grated Carrots
olive oil for frying (it is perfectly fine to use a vegetable oil, canola or other)
Makes 77 bite size pieces or 22 large pieces

Preheat your oven at 200° and allow to warm up for 15 minutes.  Peel and chop the Spanish onion into small pieces, grate the carrots by either using a kitchen whiz or using a hand grater whichever is more convenient.   Place the oil in a pan add the chopped onion.  Fry  the onion for about 5 minutes.  When it becomes  translucent add the carrots and cook for a further five minutes or until the onion has changed to an orange colour from the carrots.  Allow to cool for a few minutes.

Beat the egg in a bowl to use as an egg wash on your pastry.

Place the meat in a large bowl add the herbs, 1 egg, tomato paste, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper.  Add the carrots & onion to the mixture and mix well.

On a large board place 1 sheet of puff pastry and cut the sheet in half.  Place the mixture about 1/2″ from the edge of the pastry resembling a log.  Egg wash the top part of the pastry with a pastry brush.    Roll the sausage roll into a log and brush the top with the egg wash.  Cut the roll/log into 7 pieces and place on a baking tray.  Place the sausage rolls in the oven and cook for approximately 15-20 minutes.  Check them whilst they are cooking you may need to rotate the trays if they are browning more on one side.  You may also need to turn the oven temperature down a little.  When they are evenly browned and golden they are ready.

COOK’S TIPS

Remember to use some baking paper on your trays this will prevent the sausage rolls sticking to the tray (it also helps when it comes to the washing up).  When I make a large quantity of these, I usually have 3 or 4 trays ready to go at a time.  This saves a bit of time.

I egg wash the top of the pastry to help it stick when I roll it into the log.  Then I egg wash the whole roll/log on top before cutting.   This gives the pastry a lovely shine when baked.

If making these for your family you can cut the logs in half and this will give you 2 large sausage rolls.   You may wish to serve these for lunch or dinner.  They are best served warm.

If you are making these for a party they can made a few days ahead and stored in an airtight container and placed in the  fridge.   Preheat your oven at 180° and reheat the sausage rolls they will be lovely.  Keep the temperature lower as this will not dry them out.  The sausage rolls will be crispy on the outside as well as moist and juicy on the inside.  I would also recommend you do not place too many on your tray at a time.  This will ensure a crispy pastry and a moist meat filling.

Enjoy!