Handcrafted Sausage Rolls

Harmony Day is a workplace celebration of diversity in Australia and one that is often celebrated with food and other cultural events. Since the death of my mother I have organised many Harmony Day celebrations in various places that I worked. I dedicated the first one in 2009 to my beautiful mother as she was a wonderful cook.  Subsequent ones have been more about the team and team celebration.

 I used to work with a lady name Yvette who made amazing sausage rolls for Harmony Day one time and this recipe kind of flows on from what she told me as well as a slightly tweaked version of recipetineats.com.  Yvette liked to mix the pork and the beef mince, so that is what I have done. It is entirely up to you, though, to experiment and choose the flavours you like.

It is Grand Final Day tomorrow and most of the people I know - including the ones in my family will be glued to the TV for a couple of hours.  Sausage rolls and a nice Creme Caramel will go down nicely for after, I thought.  So here we are!

Ingredients:

500 grams pork mince

500 grams beef mince

2 teaspoons fennel, roasted and crushed roughly

1 tablespoons dill leaves, chopped

1 tablespoon sage, chopped

1 teaspoon dried oregano

3 tablespoons parsley, chopped

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 a cup of chopped celery

1/2 a cup of chopped carrots

2 tablespoons garlic, chopped

1 large brown onion, chopped

1 tablespoon oil

salt and pepper to taste

2 eggs

4 -5 sheets of puff pastry

A sprinkling of black and white sesame seeds, for decoration (optional)

Method:

In a wide mouthed dish, place the beef and pork mice, 1 egg, bread crumbs, fennel, salt and pepper and using your hands, mix well.

Next, add all the herbs to the meat and mix it in. 

In a saucepan, add the oil and when it gets hot, add the chopped carrots, garlic, onions and celery and sauté for a few minutes till the onions are translucent.  Let it cool. Add it to the mince and mix well.

Get a baking tray and line it with baking paper.  Cut each puff pastry sheet into two rectangles. Shape the mince into a sausage and place in the middle.

Take the remaining egg and beat it. Using a pastry brush, brush one side of the roll and gently fold over and seal the edges with the egg wash.

Repeat with the rest of the meat and the pastry sheets till you have used it all up.

Lastly, paint the sausage rolls with the egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds if you wish.

Keep in the fridge for at least an hour.

I have left some plain and some decorated. Cut the logs to a desired length - you can make 4 out of each log if you are planning to take it to work or for entertaining. I marked them before putting them in the oven to make it easier for myself.

Bake in a 180 deg C oven for about 30 to 35 minutes until the pastry turns a beautiful golden brown.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup.