Ultimate sausage rolls

Ultimate sausage rolls

A sausage roll of any kind is good in our book, but every element in this recipe by food producer Pollyanna Coupland is made by your own fair hand. The pops of acidity from the pickled shallots cut through the pork, which is denser and far more flavourful than shop-bought sausagemeat, while the rough puff pastry enrobes everything in buttery goodness. See Know-how for Pollyanna’s breakdown of all the skills this recipe covers.

Ultimate sausage rolls

Feed a hungry horde with our giant sausage roll recipe.

  • Serves icon Makes 6 large or 12 small
  • Time icon Hands-on time 1 hour 30 min, plus 1 week to pickle the shallots and 2 hours resting. Oven time 35-40 min

A sausage roll of any kind is good in our book, but every element in this recipe by food producer Pollyanna Coupland is made by your own fair hand. The pops of acidity from the pickled shallots cut through the pork, which is denser and far more flavourful than shop-bought sausagemeat, while the rough puff pastry enrobes everything in buttery goodness. See Know-how for Pollyanna’s breakdown of all the skills this recipe covers.

Feed a hungry horde with our giant sausage roll recipe.

Nutrition: Per roll (for 12)

Calories
412kcals
Fat
27g (14g saturated)
Protein
21g
Carbohydrates
21g (0.5g sugars)
Fibre
1.2g
Salt
1.2g

Before you start

The shallots need a week to pickle properly, so bear this in mind. The pastry can also be made up to a day in advance.

Before you start

The shallots need a week to pickle properly, so bear this in mind. The pastry can also be made up to a day in advance.

Ingredients

For the pickled shallots

  • 150g small shallots
  • 100g malt vinegar
  • 50g sugar
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
  • 100ml water

For the pastry

  •  250g unsalted butter, fridge cold
  • 330g plain flour, plus extra to dust
  •  100g ice-cold water
  • 1 medium free-range egg, beaten with a large pinch salt
  • 1 tsp poppy seeds

For the sausagemeat

  • 500g pork belly
  • 500g pork fillet
  • ½ tbsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • ½ tsp chilli flakes
  • 1½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1½ tsp table salt

Specialist kit

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Method

  1. Peel the shallots, keeping the roots intact, then cut almost all the way into quarters, stopping just before you cut through the root (so the petals stay together). Put the rest of the pickled shallot ingredients in a small pan and add a pinch of salt. Add the shallots, bring to the boil, then leave to cool. Transfer to a sterilised jar and leave in a cool, dry place to pickle for at least a week.
  2. To make the pastry, coarsely grate the chilled butter into a bowl, then add the flour and rub together loosely with your fingertips until roughly incorporated – you want some large chunks of butter to give you good flaky pastry. Add a pinch of salt, then the ice-cold water, little by little, bringing the dough together into a ragged clump (you might not need to use all the water).
  3. On a floured work surface, roll the dough into a rough 12cmx 20cm rectangle. With the short side facing you, fold the bottom third up into the centre, then the top third back over that. Wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
  4. While the pastry rests, make the sausagemeat. Roughly chop the pork belly and fillet, then transfer to the bowl of a food processor. Toast the whole spices in a hot, dry pan for a few minutes, then coarsely grind with a pestle and mortar. Tip into the processor with the rest of the ingredients, then pulse to a coarse texture – like a slightly chunkier sausagemeat. Drain and weigh out 50g of the pickled shallots, finely chop them (discarding the roots), then stir into the mixture. Keep in the fridge until needed.
  5. After an hour, remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out on a floured surface to a neat rectangle about 20cm x 50cm. The same as before, fold up the bottom third, then the top third back over. Turn the square 90 degrees to the right, roll it back out into a rectangle, then repeat the folding process. Cover and return to the fridge for 30 minutes. Repeat the rolling and turning process before refrigerating again for at least 30 minutes.
  6. Now it’s time to make the sausage rolls. Roll out the pastry into a neat rectangle measuring 50cm x 30cm (around 4mm thick). With a long edge facing you, cut into thirds so you have 3 rectangles roughly 17cm x 30cm. Divide the sausagemeat into thirds, then shape into logs the same length as the pastry and place one in the centre of each rectangle. Brush along one long side of the pastry with the beaten egg, then fold the pastry over the sausagemeat, flattening it a little as you do so and sealing the edges together with the side of your hand. Transfer to a tray lined with baking paper, then freeze for 10 minutes to firm up.
  7. Cut each log in half (or into quarters if you want small sausage rolls), crimp the edges with a fork, slash the tops with several diagonal cuts (these will
    let the steam out) and trim the open ends so the finish is neat and the rolls cook evenly. Brush the tops liberally with egg wash, then put in the freezer for 10 minutes more. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200ºC fan/gas 7.
  8. Brush the sausage rolls again with egg wash, then sprinkle with the poppy seeds – sprinkling from a height will give you an even distribution. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until gorgeous and golden.

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving
Calories
412kcals
Fat
27g (14g saturated)
Protein
21g
Carbohydrates
21g (0.5g sugars)
Fibre
1.2g
Salt
1.2g

delicious. tips

  1. Don’t waste it You’ll have more pickled shallots than you need for this recipe, but the remaining ones will keep in the fridge for months. The uncooked sausage rolls can also be frozen. To cook from frozen, increase the oven time to 45-55 minutes (depending on how big you’ve made them).

  2. The shallots need a week to pickle properly, so bear this in mind. The pastry can also be made up to a day in advance.

  3. 1 Homemade pickles take time but give you total control over the end result. Like them sharp? Add a touch less water. Like them sweet? Up the sugar. Play around with the type of vinegar and add different spices to make your personalised pickle. The reason we (almost) quarter the shallots is because it speeds up the process.

    2 Rough puff pastry is my favourite pastry to work with and a seriously impressive thing to make at home. The key is to keep the butter chilled at all times to stop it melting into the flour, so keep it in the fridge whenever you’re not using it. Don’t be scared by uneven lumps of butter and a variable texture – it’s what makes this a ‘rough’ puff.

    3 Sausagemeat varies hugely in quality and, unless you’re going to a good butcher, tends to be over-salted and pretty poor. Making your own is simple and speedy, and lets you control the flavour and texture. I’ve gone with Italian-led flavours and a dense texture that favours meat over fat, but feel free to get creative.

     

    4 Egg washing is more complex than you might think and makes a real difference. A bronzed, shiny sausage roll is far more appealing than a sandy, patchy one. Add a pinch of salt to your beaten egg and leave it for about 10 minutes to help break down the proteins in the egg white, creating a thin wash you can paint evenly over your pastry. Applying in two stages (with a quick chill in between) creates a double layer for extra gloss.

This enamel baking tray set includes three durable carbon steel trays of assorted sizes with a tough non-stick enamel coating (dishwasher and oven-safe up to 260ºC). These will fulfil all your baking needs and are also guaranteed for 25 years. Perfect for cooking sausage rolls and so much more.

£34 | Buy now See all at ProCook

Price correct May 2024

Buy ingredients online

Recipe By:

Pollyanna Coupland
Food producer, delicious.

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