Saturday, June 20, 2009

Sausage rolls...a little bit of love wrapped up in a hug


My mum used to make the most amazing sausage rolls - crispy little bundles of goodness that everyone adored. She wasn't someone to write her recipes down, and so now that she's passed on all those secret recipes are lost to the ages, sadly. So a while ago I attempted to make my own version. They're hugely popular in my house, and never ever go to waste! They also make heaps, so if you're after something for a whole lot of people - try these. I made these recently when my Dad, Sister, Niece and Nephew showed up after a long car drive. Just the thing to feed hungry hordes. Easy and comforting for winter, as well. On a related note, this Sunday (21 June 2009) here in Australia marks mid-winter! So I am planning a winter solstice feast lunch. Stay tuned for that adventure.....

A note about the sausage meat: the first time I made these, I tried to go all gourmet and make them with some kind of yummo luxury mince.But they just don't taste as traditional as I had wanted! It's very important for the taste of this recipe that you use the cheap packet of sausage mince that you buy in the meat section of your local friendly supermarket. I'm not even sure what kind of meat it is, and I'm not sure I even want to know. As a side benefit, this is a nice frugal meal.

So here's my recipe

makes 12 large, or 24 small sausage rolls

Ingredients:

Filling:

500grm sausage roll meat (the packet type from Woolworths/Safeway or Coles)
1 carrot, grated
1 zucchini, grated
1 onion
1/4 cup of Parmesan/parmigiano reggiano or other strong tasting hard cheese
2 tbsp of tomato sauce
salt and pepper to taste
dried or fresh oregano
Fresh parsley, if you have some

Pastry:
3 sheets of store bought puff pastry, thawed (or equivalent amount if you can make the stuff!)

  1. Preheat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius
  2. Drain both the grated carrot and zucchini (this is very important so the rolls don't get soggy!)
  3. Finely chop the onion
  4. Cut pastry sheets in half
  5. Mix all filling ingredients together with your hands
  6. Take just over half a cup of the filling mixture, and lay down on one of the long edges of the pastry.
  7. Roll the pastry across to form the sausage roll, and seal the edges with a little bit of water, pressing down.
  8. Cut either in half or quarters, depending on which size you like. (Or, like me - a combination of both!)
  9. Bake for 10-15 mins , then turn down your oven by about 20 degrees and cook for another 10-15 minutes.
  10. Turn them over if you like a crispy base for a few more minutes
  11. When the pastry is nice and crispy, remove from oven, and serve with a dollop tomato sauce (if it pleases you!)

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