Very Quick and Very Easy Sausage Rolls
My friends ask me for this recipe more than any other. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to type it out here once and for all to save myself typing it out every single time someone asks. Idiot. Anyway, I make these rolls for most parties and gatherings and they always disappear rapidly.
As far as I’m concerned, there are 3 roads you can go down when making sausage rolls. The first involves the most effort and that is to go and buy sausage meat and season it entirely yourself with onion, herbs, spices, whatever (I sometimes use chunks of soaked, dried apricot). The second is to cheat and squeeze the meat from a pack of really good sausages and do nothing else except wrap it in the pastry and the third is the same but with a bit of pimping here and there according to my mood on the day.
This time I used the meat from 6 sausages and felt very strongly that the absolutely essential thing to do was to add more onion and so grated in half a small white one. You could add an extra herb if you’ve chosen quite a plain sausage – sage or thyme are both good choices. The sausage meat is obviously already seasoned so you don’t need to add any salt or pepper. Clearly you’ll need to buy your puff pastry if you want this to be quick and to be honest I’ve never been arsed to make my own anyway.
Probably a 30 minute job from start to scoff. People will love you.
Very Quick and Very Easy Sausage Rolls
400g sausages (or thereabouts)
1 x 320g packet ready-rolled puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
Any pimpage your heart desires – onion, herbs, spices etc. (if you’re unsure you might want to fry off a teaspoon of the meat to test it)
Preheat the oven to 220C
Squeeze the meat out of the sausages, into a bowl. If you are using extra herbs or onion, add them now too. If adding onion, you will need to grate it, otherwise it won’t cook properly. Mix very well with your hands.
Open your pastry out onto a lightly floured surface. If it’s pre-rolled then you’ll just need to roll it a little thinner (same rectangular shape) until it is about the thickness of a 2p coin. Cut it lengthways into 4 strips. Divide your meat into 4 balls then use each of the balls to make a long sausage along each strip of pastry.
Brush one edge of each strip with the beaten egg then fold each roll over and seal it as best you can. Turn it over to make sure it is well sealed. Turn it back over and cut into 1 inch lengths. I like to snip the top of each roll with scissors but it’s not necessary. Brush each roll with more beaten egg then put them on a baking tray (you can lightly grease it but don’t panic if you forget, they won’t stick too badly) and bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
If you’re not serving them on the day you made them, reheat them in the oven for 5 minutes, otherwise they will be soft.