pork Sage sausage rolls

Instructions

To make the sausage roll filling

1. Place the onion, garlic and carrots into a large food processor.
2. Blitz until everything is finely chopped.
3. Heat some olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.
4. Cook the onion mixture with a good pinch of salt for 3-5 minutes, or until the mixture starts to soften.
5. Remove the onion mixture to a large mixing bowl and let it cool completely.
6. Meanwhile, add the pork, parsley, salt, pepper, dried herbs and Worcestershire sauce to the food processor.
7. Pulse for just a few seconds until the meat has an almost paste-like texture. You can skip this step if you prefer your sausage roll filling to have a chunkier texture.
8. Remove the meat mixture to the mixing bowl with the onion mixture, and add the breadcrumbs.
9. Use your hands to mix everything together until all of the ingredients are well combined.
10. If you want to check the filling for seasoning, I recommend pinching off a small piece of the filling and roll it into a small patty or meatball. Fry the patty in a small pan with some oil, and taste for seasoning.

To form the sausage rolls

1. For this recipe, I use 2 rectangular sheets of puff pastry which are 25 x 42 cm/10 x 16 inches in size.
2. Cut the pastry in half lengthwise so that you have two narrow strips of pastry (12.5 cm/5 inches wide).
3. Use your hands to place the filling in the middle of one strip of pastry. You want to form a long sausage which is roughly one-third of the width of the pastry.
4. Make the egg wash by beating the egg and milk together in a small bowl.
5. Brush one side of the pastry length with some egg wash.
6. Carefully lift one side of the pastry over the sausage filling, and continue until the filling is fully encased in the pastry.
7. Make sure the seam is on the bottom.
8. Use a sharp knife to cut the sausage roll into whatever lengths you like. For entertaining, I suggest making the sausage rolls about 4 cm/1.5 inches long. Otherwise, I typically cut my sausage rolls about 8 cm/3 inches long.
9. Cut a few slits in the pastry of each sausage roll.
10. Repeat the above steps with the remaining filling and pastry.

To bake the sausage rolls

1. If it is quite warm in your kitchen, I recommend putting the uncooked sausage rolls into the fridge for about 30 minutes before baking. This helps to prevent the pastry from shrinking upon baking.
2. Preheat the oven to 200°C/390°F (without fan).
3. Place the sausage rolls onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
4. Brush the sausage rolls with some egg wash.
5. Sprinkle the sausage rolls with some sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or just some coarse sea salt and coarsely cracked black pepper.
6. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly golden. Depending on how big or small your sausage rolls are, you may need to adjust the time slightly.
7. Serve hot or warm with some tomato sauce (ketchup) or Cherry Tomato Relish.