Sausage Roll

Ingredients

Filling

• 600 gpork mince, about 20% fat
• 200 gbeef mince
• 1onion, very finely diced or grated
• 2garlic cloves, crushed
• 80 gfresh white breadcrumbs
• 1egg
• 2 tbsptomato sauce
• 1 tbspWorcestershire sauce
• 1 tspdried sage or 1 tbsp fresh, chopped
• 1 tspfennel seeds, lightly crushed (optional)
• 1.5 tspsalt
• 1 tspground white pepper
• ¼ tspground nutmeg

Pastry

• 3 sheetsof all-butter puff pastry, about 25 cm square, thawed but still cold
• 1egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk, to glaze
• 2 tspsesame seeds (optional)

To serve

• tomato sauce, in quantity

Directions

1. Soften the onion and garlic in a little oil over medium-low heat for 8 minutes until translucent and sweet, then cool completely; raw onion in the mix stays crunchy and leaks water into the pastry.
2. Mix the pork, beef, cooled onion, breadcrumbs, egg, both sauces and all the seasonings in a large bowl, working it with your hands for 2 minutes until it is uniform and slightly tacky.
3. Fry a teaspoon of the mixture in a pan and taste it. This is your only chance to correct the salt and pepper, and sausage roll filling needs more seasoning than you think.
4. Cut each pastry sheet in half to give six rectangles. Keep the pastry cold at all times; warm puff pastry will not laminate and gives a greasy, flat roll.
5. Pipe or shape a log of filling about 3 cm thick along one long edge of each rectangle, leaving a 2 cm border, then brush that far border with egg wash.
6. Roll up firmly so the seam ends up underneath, press the seam to seal, and chill the logs for 20 minutes; a cold log holds its shape and cuts cleanly.
7. Cut each log into two or three rolls, set them seam side down on a lined tray with room between them, brush the tops with egg wash, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and cut two shallow diagonal slashes in each to vent steam.
8. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pastry is deep golden and puffed and the internal temperature of the filling reaches 72°C (160°F). Rest 5 minutes and serve hot with tomato sauce.

Technique

• Breadcrumbs are not padding. They hold the juices that render out of the fat, which is what keeps the filling moist rather than shrinking into a dry cylinder inside a hollow pastry tube.
• Australians eat more sausage rolls per head than anyone, and the bakery version is a distinct thing from the British one: bigger, more heavily seasoned, and always eaten with tomato sauce.
• Chill the assembled rolls before baking. This is the single step that most reliably improves the pastry, since cold butter in the layers produces steam and lift.
• Slash the tops. Unvented rolls burst along the seam and dump the filling onto the tray.

Substitutions

• All pork works, and gives a softer filling; all beef is leaner and needs an extra 2 tbsp of oil or grated butter to stop it drying out.
• A vegetarian version built on lentils, grated mushroom and walnut with the same seasonings is now standard in Australian bakeries.
• No fresh breadcrumbs: use 60 g of panko soaked in 3 tbsp milk for a few minutes.

Variations

• Party sausage rolls, cut into bite-sized lengths, are the version served at every Australian function.
• A cheese and vegemite roll spreads a thin layer under the filling.
• Adding 100 g of grated apple or fennel to the pork gives the sweeter, softer style found in country bakeries.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sausage Roll?

Sausage Roll is a bread & pastry from Australia: seasoned sausage mince wrapped in flaky puff pastry, bakery staple.

How long does Sausage Roll take to make?

Sausage Roll takes 35 min of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 12 rolls. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Sausage Roll?

Yes, within limits. All pork works, and gives a softer filling; all beef is leaner and needs an extra 2 tbsp of oil or grated butter to stop it drying out. A vegetarian version built on lentils, grated mushroom and walnut with the same seasonings is now standard in Australian bakeries. No fresh breadcrumbs: use 60 g of panko soaked in 3 tbsp milk for a few minutes.

What is the most important thing to get right in Sausage Roll?

Breadcrumbs are not padding. They hold the juices that render out of the fat, which is what keeps the filling moist rather than shrinking into a dry cylinder inside a hollow pastry tube.