Homemade shortcrust sausage rolls are edible love
What are shortcrust sausage rolls? Only a way to a Brit’s heart! Nothing says love more than a little pastry filled with homemade pork sausage meat. I should know because I have been buying people’s love and goodwill with these sausage rolls for a while now.
For instance, when I first met my husband, I fed him my homemade sausage rolls. He proposed 6 months later. On my wedding day, my mom and I nervously ate Gregg’s sausage rolls before squeezing into our dresses. She was so happy, that she didn’t even need Xanax for the big day (I wish I could say the same for me).
When my in-laws come for a visit, I make sausage rolls as a welcome snack after hours upon hours on a plane. Not are they a welcome treat but they also help to fight jet lag.
Needless to say, these baked sausage rolls are near and dear to my heart. Share them with someone you love, that’s if you can avoid hoarding the rolls and eating them all by yourself.
How the sausage meat is made
Making sausage, or at least the meat filling is easier than you may think. Two key things to remember when you are making sausage meat is to keep everything cold and try your best not to overwork it.
Keeping it cold will not only help in cutting up and mincing the meat but will also keep the fat from melting and getting everywhere other than where you want it to go.
Season your meat before mincing it as this will prevent it from getting overworked since you don’t have to further mix it in once it is minced. Other than that, just get yourself and a good and reliable meat grinder and start experimenting with different seasonings and meat mixtures.
Which should you use for sausage rolls: shortcrust pastry or puff pastry?
In the past, I usually made my homemade sausage rolls with pre-made frozen puff pastry. Not only was this super easy and super delicious but it was also SUPER flaky. So flaky in fact that I ended up wearing that puff pastry all day.
So, if you are the type of person who doesn’t mind a big flaky mess, then go ahead and use puff pastry for your sausage roll. Personally, I like to use shortcrust pastry for my sausage rolls. I feel that it makes the rolls more substantial and hearty which nicely compliments the homemade sausage meat inside.
For me, shortcrust pastry makes each sausage roll a meal as opposed to a snack. Being that this type of pastry can be a tricky thing to master, you can always use pre-made frozen shortcrust pastry when you make sausage rolls. This will help save you time and any frustration trying to get the pastry just right.
Hearty Shortcrust Sausage Rolls
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 12-15 rolls 1x
Description
Shortcrust sausage rolls made from homemade pork sausage mixed with sage onions and baked into buttery pastry. How to make sausage rolls right. #pastry #sausage #pork #recipes #britishrecipes
Ingredients
- 1 large onion (finely diced)
- 1 tbsp dried sage
- 1–2 tbsp oil
- 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs (1 for the sausage roll mixture, 1 for the egg wash)
- 1–2 shortcrust or puff pastry sheets
Sausage roll filling:
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried marjoram
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp of garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 250 g pork belly
- 250 g pork shoulder
Instructions
Homemade sausage roll mix
- Place meat in the freezer until cold and stiff.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the meat into small cubes no bigger than 1 cm / 0.5 in big.
- Place in a large mixing bowl and add thyme, marjoram, black pepper, sea salt, garlic powder, and nutmeg. Toss or mix together until everything is evenly coated in spice.
- If you are using a meat grinder, add the seasoned pork to the grinder and mince. If you are not so lucky as to have a meat grinder hanging around, you can put the meat along with a splash of beer into a food processor and blitz until you have reached the desired consistency. Be warned that this can be hard on your food processor so proceed with caution. This also runs the risk of overworking the sausage mixture, so try not to overdo it.
- Once everything is minced, place in the refrigerator or freezer to chill until ready to use. As always, coldness is key when it comes to making sausage, so keep it cold!
Sausage Roll Assembly
- Preheat the oven to 190C/375F.
- Heat oil in a frying pan and cook onions and sage until translucent and lightly brown. Let cool.
- When onions have cooled, add them to the sausage mixture along with the breadcrumbs and 1 egg.
- Carefully combine them all together until everything is evenly dispersed.
- If using a large square of short pastry, cut the pastry sheet in half dividing it into 2 rectangular sheets.
- Divide sausage roll meat and neatly line down the center.
- Fold over pastry, seal the edges with your fingers and crimp. Lightly cut slits at the top.
- Cut into pieces about 1-2 inches/ 2-4.5 cm long.
- Repeat with remaining sausage mix and pastry sheets.
- Place on a baking tray and lightly coat with the beaten egg wash mixture.
- Bake in the oven until pastry is golden brown and the sausage filling is cooked, this should take about 30-45 min. If you are having trouble getting it golden brown, move the baking tray up a level or two in the oven under the top broiler for the last 5-10 minutes.
Notes
If you don’t want to go through the trouble of mincing the pork yourself, ask your butcher if they can do it for you. Most of the time, they are happy to help. If not, you can try your hand at using regular pork mince found at the store. Just make sure that it has a higher fat percentage otherwise your sausage rolls will be dry and sad.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 min
- Category: Breakfast, Snack
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: British
Keywords: Sausage, homemade sausage mixture, pastry, pork, sausage rolls, sausage roll, sage onions, shortcrust, puff pastry, homemade sausage rolls, how to make sausage rolls
