Festive Party Bites: Sausage Roll Selection
Well hello there! This last weekend has been simply wonderful, I hope you all had a good one! Mine started with the arrival of two much awaited things: My best friend: my darling Joely; and a new (!) camera. (!!!) Joely and I don't get together very often due to long distance but we certainly made the most of it with lots of lovely things over the last few days.Early Sunday morning, before the bustle of starting the roast, pottering about folding blankets and lighting candles all began, I decided to have a play with some new variations on the classic sausage roll. I'm super pleased with how they all turned out and it's really lovely to have something a little bit different to the standard sausage meat and pastry combo.
So, here is the first of my party season recipes: A Sausage Roll Selection. The Ginger & Nutmeg is my personal favourite, I don't think it could taste more Christmassy if it tried! I made these with shortcrust pastry due to how much I love the stuff but I think I'll make some puff ones for Christmas too. These can also be made ahead and frozen for up to 4 weeks, saving you precious time at the height of the festive rush.
Festive Party Bites:
Sausage Roll Selection
1 tsp ground gingerSausage Roll Selection
Prep 30 mins
Cook 18 mins
Cook 18 mins
Don't forget to refer to my Conversion Chart for your temperatures and weights.
Ginger & Nutmeg
1 tsp nutmeg
What you will need for the base recipe:
12 oz ready-roll or homemade shortcrust pastry
1 lb sausage meat, or a pack of 8 plain sausages
dash of milk
1 lb sausage meat, or a pack of 8 plain sausages
dash of milk
If you can't get hold of sausage meat, a pack of plain sausages will do the trick just as well. These will need the skin removing though, so to do this, run a sharp knife down the length of each sausage, then peel back the skin and discard. Place meat into a large bowl and mulch together using a spoon or your hands, to create sausage meat.
Next, divide the sausage meat into 5 equal portions, or as many to suit the combos you want to make. Put these portions into their own small bowls, ready to add the flavourings as follows.
Ginger & Nutmeg
1 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper, to taste
Chilli & Paprika
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
Tomato & Basil
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried basil
½ tbsp tomato purée
salt and pepper, to taste
Garlic & Red Pesto
small clove garlic, finely chopped
small clove garlic, finely chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
Marmite
1 tbsp Marmite yeast extract
1 tbsp Marmite yeast extract
What to do:
Start by preheating your oven to 160°C (325° F, Gas Mark 3), and line some baking trays with tin foil.
Depending on which variations you are making, add the ingredients of each one to the individual bowls of sausage meat, and blend with a spoon or your hands. This applies to all the flavours above, apart from the Garlic & Red Pesto and the Marmite combos. For these, keep the pesto and the Marmite aside. You will spread these straight onto the pastry instead.
Next, roll out your pastry onto a floured surface, to prevent sticking. Spoon out one of the fillings into a line and neaten up by poking into place with a knife. (I made two rows here to show the spacing you need, but it's best to do each filling one row at a time). For the red pesto and Marmite variations, spread these on the pastry before adding the sausage meat.
Using a pastry brush, brush a line of milk next to the sausage meat, leaving some pastry in between. (See faint line scored on pastry above).
Now roll the end of the pastry over the filling and press down into the milk to seal. Run a sharp knife down this join to separate the first batch of sausage rolls.
Repeat this with all of your variations until you have 5 separate rolls. Next, take each roll and cut into 2 inch sections, creating mini sausage rolls. Prick the tops with a fork and brush with a little milk.
Place these on your baking trays, with a fair space in between each one. As we're using shortcrust pastry, these don't really expand, but the fillings may melt out a little so it's best to leave some room for this.
Bake in the centre of your preheated oven for 14-18 minutes, or until the pastry begins to brown and the filling is thoroughly cooked.
Serve warm from the oven or leave to cool until needed. Keep in the fridge once cooled or store in the freezer for up to 4 weeks.
Start by preheating your oven to 160°C (325° F, Gas Mark 3), and line some baking trays with tin foil.
Depending on which variations you are making, add the ingredients of each one to the individual bowls of sausage meat, and blend with a spoon or your hands. This applies to all the flavours above, apart from the Garlic & Red Pesto and the Marmite combos. For these, keep the pesto and the Marmite aside. You will spread these straight onto the pastry instead.
Next, roll out your pastry onto a floured surface, to prevent sticking. Spoon out one of the fillings into a line and neaten up by poking into place with a knife. (I made two rows here to show the spacing you need, but it's best to do each filling one row at a time). For the red pesto and Marmite variations, spread these on the pastry before adding the sausage meat.
Using a pastry brush, brush a line of milk next to the sausage meat, leaving some pastry in between. (See faint line scored on pastry above).
Now roll the end of the pastry over the filling and press down into the milk to seal. Run a sharp knife down this join to separate the first batch of sausage rolls.
Repeat this with all of your variations until you have 5 separate rolls. Next, take each roll and cut into 2 inch sections, creating mini sausage rolls. Prick the tops with a fork and brush with a little milk.
Place these on your baking trays, with a fair space in between each one. As we're using shortcrust pastry, these don't really expand, but the fillings may melt out a little so it's best to leave some room for this.
Bake in the centre of your preheated oven for 14-18 minutes, or until the pastry begins to brown and the filling is thoroughly cooked.
Serve warm from the oven or leave to cool until needed. Keep in the fridge once cooled or store in the freezer for up to 4 weeks.
Have a fab day, folks!
2 comments
Yummy! These sausage rolls look gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tash! I definitely recommend the Ginger & Nutmeg... I wasn't expecting it to be such nice complimentary flavours! x
DeleteThank you for stopping by!