Here in the UK, we’re well known for enjoying a bit of rolling, although it usually involves cheese and hills. Today we’re going to explore another quintessentially British roll, the Sausage Roll — a delicious snack of sausage meat, wrapped in puff pastry and baked until golden brown.
Like most of the foods which are considered British, we can’t really lay claim to inventing the Sausage Roll. It was the Ancient Greeks and Romans who first had the idea of wrapping meat in dough, and it was the French who get the credit for the invention of puff pastry — supposedly after a recipe for a rolled butter cake went wrong (see, this is why I firmly believe that mistakes are just good eating when it comes to baking). It was the British who perfected the sausage roll, however, with an early version which involved sausage meat wrapped in shortcrust pastry becoming a hugely popular street food during the 1800s. The reason for its popularity was that it was easily portable and very cheap to produce, mainly due to the practice of adding cereal to the sausage meat to stretch the meat further and reduce costs.
Now, sausage rolls are available in every bakery and supermarket (grocery store) in the UK, and they also come in vegan varieties. Some even have extras added, such as apple sauce or a relish. They truly are a British institution. The Greggs sausage roll has almost a mythical standing, and these pastry goodies are also frequently to be found climbing their way towards the top of the Christmas music charts thanks to the charitable efforts of YouTuber, musician, blogger, and outright lunatic, Mark Hoyle, and his wife, Roxanne (the Hoyles are more commonly known as LadBaby). The meat- and pastry-themed musical stylings of Mark and Roxanne drive many of us Brits round the bend, but we go along with it thanks to their use of the profits from their musical releases to support The Trussell Trust in their efforts to end hunger due to food poverty in the UK (no, I am not providing a link to their songs, but you can have one for The Trussell Trust).
This Sausage Roll recipe is for a Cumberland sausage meat (a pork sausage meat, with the addition of pepper, mace, thyme, sage, and nutmeg), with a caramelised red onion, bacon, and bourbon relish, all wrapped in puff pastry. Ordinarily I encourage everyone to make their own pastry, with two exceptions — filo pastry, and puff pastry. Puff pastry is a hassle to make, it involves flattening out butter and folding it into the pastry, all whilst keeping the butter cool by frequently returning the dough to the refrigerator in between rerolling and refolding. Store bought puff pastry is as good as any you could hope to make at home, and a lot quicker and less stressful to prepare.
I also understand that a proper British sausage is a bit of a rarity in the USA, but don’t worry about that — it’s really easy to make your own.
For my diabetic friends — this recipe makes 6 large sausage rolls at 53.9g of carbohydrate each, or 12 party sized sausage rolls at 26.95g carbohydrates each.
Food processor
Frying pan
Sharp kitchen knife
Wooden spoon
Shot glass
Digital kitchen scales
Baking paper
Rolling pin
Baking tray
Pastry brush
1 pack of ready to use puff pastry (roughly 600 g)
sesame seeds (optional)
For the sausage:
400 g Boneless pork (you can use pork mince/ground pork, or cut a pork shoulder of leg joint into cubes)
100g dried breadcrumbs or rusk
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
¼ tsp cayenne
½ tsp thyme
1 tsp sage
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp mace
For the relish:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small red/purple onion, finely chopped
3 slices of smoked back bacon/Canadian bacon, cut into roughly ½ inch sized pieces.
2 shots of bourbon
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp honey (optional)
Herbs or spices of your choice (optional)
The first thing you need to do is make your sausage meat. This is really simple to make and won’t take long at all. Just put all the ingredients into your food processor and pulse until well combined, this should take around 3-5 minutes, depending on whether you’ve used pork mince/ground pork or chunks of pork shoulder or leg. Once you have your finished sausage meat, simply wrap it in kitchen foil or cling film/saran wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
While your sausage meat is chilling you should prepare your relish. Finely chop your red onion. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in your frying pan on a low heat, then add your onion and cook for 15 minutes, then add the finely chopped bacon. Stir occasionally in order to prevent sticking.
Queue up ‘Firestarter’ by The Prodigy on whatever device you use to play your music, add 2 shots of bourbon to your onion and bacon mix, and flambé. The easiest way to do this is to CAREFULLY light the bourbon using a match or lighter; if you’re using a gas stove and are confident in your abilities, you could tilt the frying pan so the alcohol catches fire. Mr Cakes really enjoys this step, I think I may have married a pyromaniac.
If you accidentally set fire to your kitchen:
1. Get out.
2. Call 911
3. Switch the music to ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ by Billy Joel.
If things have proceeded safely, allow the alcohol to burn off, then add a tsp of honey and 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar, and whatever herbs or spices you think will work to your onion mixture (I would recommend a bit of rosemary, or some dried chili flakes. Continue to cook for another minute or 2.
Turn off the heat and allow your finished relish to cool.
Preheat your oven to 390F (200C).
Lay out your puff pastry and roll out so it’s a rectangle around the thickness of a coin and roughly the size of your baking sheet. Cut this in half lengthways so you have 2 long, thin rectangles of pastry.
Take your relish and spread across the pastry rectangles, leaving plenty of space around the edges so the pastry can be sealed.
Now remove your sausage meat from the refrigerator and shape this into a long tube which will fit the length of your pastry rectangles. It is easier to do this in smaller sections and join them together once they’re placed on the pastry.
Gently brush water across the length of the pastry rectangles and roll the pastry around the sausage meat. Press along the moistened edge to seal it to the other side of the pastry, fully enclosing the sausage and relish in a pastry jacket. The ends should remain unsealed, with the sausage meat just visible.
You should now have 2 very long sausage rolls.
Cut each of these extra-long sausage rolls into either 3 or 6 pieces, depending on whether you want the larger, or the party sized version. Now use a sharp knife to slice along the top of each sausage roll. Brush with a little egg wash and add sesame seeds if you want to.
Cover a baking tray with baking parchment.
Place your sausage rolls onto your covered baking tray and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.
You have now baked a British Institution. I’m not sure how much help that will be when applying for British Citizenship, but it can’t hurt. Serve your sausage rolls cold with a salad, hot with chips and Heinz baked beans (a favourite childhood meal), or just enjoy it all on its own either hot or cold.
Just don’t make a song and dance about it, there’s enough of that going on already.
Join me next month, when I hope to be able to provide you with an election cake extravaganza. Hopefully we’ll be celebrating, if not then there is always the option of a 4 year food coma.
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If you really don’t want to bake but you’re feeling hungry then check out Martie — keeping good food out of landfill and saving you money at the same time.
