Australian Sausage Roll is the delicious 'down under' answer to our Pigs in a Blanket.
Sausage wrapped in pastry is convenient and readily available in North American supermarkets so why would you want to make your own?
Well, for one thing they are delicious. They taste a bit fresher and softer using ground pork instead of a wiener or prefab sausage. You can customize the taste to suit you as well.
Like a bit of heat? Add some red pepper flakes. Customize your spices - some recipes use fennel seeds, some might like caraway seeds or thyme or rosemary.
I like to add fresh herbs like parsley or thyme if I have fresh on hand.
If you use store bought puff pastry these are a cinch to make. And for about $10 you get not 12 or 24 pieces but about 36 pieces.
They freeze beautifully and bake up easily so they are great to prep ahead for a party. It also makes it easy to have an appetizer on hand that is ready to go on short notice. Remember when friends came over? Sometimes on short notice? Or they dropped in and a 'party threatened to break out'?
Let's hope that when we get through this abomination of a year that 2020 has been we will eventually get back to that! Then you will want to have some of these in your freezer!
You can serve them with a robust mustard for dipping or ketchup. I actually used a Chow Chow relish and it was perfect!
Wine Pairing for Australian Sausage Roll With Ground Pork
We enjoyed these as part of an appetizer course for an Australian wine tasting. I can attest that they went well with the Sparkling wine as well as the Australian Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. These are so versatile with the pork and the pastry you would be safe to just pick your favourite quaff, sit back and enjoy!
Australian Sausage Roll With Ground Pork
Ingredients
Filling
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup fennel bulb chopped fine (you can substitute celery)
- 5 oz bacon rough chopped
- 1 lb ground pork (mince) regular (not lean)
- ¾ cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Pastry
- 2 sheets puff pastry cut into 4 - 20" X 5" rectangles
- 1 egg lightly whisked
Instructions
- Sauté onion, fennel and garlic in a large saucepan over medium high heat about 2 minutes.
- Add bacon and cook another 2 minutes. Allow mixture to cool until you can mix in remaining Filling ingredients with your hands. Mix well so ingredients are evenly distributed.
Assembly
- Lay out a puff pastry rectangle with long side facing you. Form a tight log with the filling. Brush the long edge of the pastry with whisked egg yolk. Wrap the pastry tightly over the filling, overlapping the 2 long sides. Brush the seam with more egg wash.
- Refrigerate the assembled rolls for about an hour so you will be able to cut them easily.
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 baking trays with parchment.
- Remove rolls from fridge and cut into about 2" pieces. Arrange pieces on the baking sheet. Brush pastry with remaining egg wash.
- Bake 30-35 minutes switching the sheets half way through.
- Serve with mustard or ketchup dipping sauce.
- If you want to prepare in advance, cut the rolls into 2" pieces. Place pieces on a tray separated and freeze solid. You can then store pieces in a freezer bag or container. Brush egg wash on pastry and bake from frozen at 350° for 40 minutes.
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