Recipe – Australia Day Sausage Rolls

By Lee Price on January 5, 2012 in Food

Christmas may have come and gone, but the fun isn’t all over just yet. Australia Day – the public holiday that gives us all an excuse to crack open a cold beer and enjoy a barbecue in the summer sun – is just around the corner.

This year, consider impressing your friends with some homemade sausage rolls. Adults and kids alike can’t resist the tempting allure of this pastry treat dunked in tomato sauce.

And the great news is, you can get on a roll (excuse the pun) and make loads of these as they freeze really well to use later. Just place the uncooked sausage rolls into an airtight container in the freezer and when they are ready to be used, defrost overnight in the fridge and then bake as per the instructions below.

Even if you’re not heading to a barbecue, these are great for a snack, light lunch, or a lunchbox treat, and even better as a midnight snack after a night out.

Ingredients (makes 12)

500g pork mince
1 onion, finely sliced
1 carrot, grated
1 zucchini, grated
1 handful of chopped fresh herbs (such as parsley, mint, or basil – or a combination of these) or 1 tsp of any of these herbs in dried form
Salt and pepper to taste
3 sheets of puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg, lightly beaten
Poppy or sesame seeds (optional, for decoration)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C and line two trays with baking paper.

2. Place the mince, onion, carrot, zucchini, herbs, salt and pepper into a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon.

3. Lay out the sheets of pastry and cut them in half so that you have two rectangles of equal size.

4. Spoon the mixture down the centre of the pastry (long-ways) so that the mix goes right to each end. Be careful not to overstuff.

5. Brush the egg down the right hand side of the pastry. Pull the left side over the mixture and place the right hand side flat on top of that. Smooth down the seam with your finger. Cut into 2 pieces (or 4 if you want more bite-size rolls) and then place seam down onto your trays, not too close together.

6. Brush the tops with the beaten egg and then sprinkle on poppy seeds or sesame seeds (if using) and bake in the oven for around 30 minutes or until the tops are golden and crisp.

Note – you can substitute almost anything in this recipe. For instance, omit the onion and use fennel if you like it; use lamb mince and rosemary; beef mince and some horseradish; or even go vegetarian with a tin of lentils and some curry powder. You can use the poppy or sesame seeds to differentiate between the various flavours.

Have you got a great recipe that you would like to share? Send it through to operationjamjar@y7mail.com and you could see it in a future issue of the Beast Magazine.

For more recipes and thrifty cooking ideas visit operationjamjar.blogspot.com.