Pork, sage and onion sausage rolls
There aren’t many of us who don’t enjoy scoffing a sausage roll every now and then – they’re always the first thing to get snaffled up at a morning tea. But the ingredients list on the frozen ones at the supermarket can be scary. Not ideal for a meal – which is why I created this recipe. Simple to make at home and you know exactly what’s going in them – just add veges or a side salad and you’ve got a meal. They are so super tasty no one will notice the spinach I’ve snuck in, either. Just make you don’t forget to season the mince with salt and pepper – you need it for flavour. If you want to make smaller sausage rolls, just cook them for 10 minutes less.
I really do suggest rolling out the pastry from the block rather than using pre-rolled sheets too, if you can – the result is puffier and much more delicious.
NOTE: For a meatier flavour, you can do half pork and half beef. Or you can use chicken mince. Serves 5.
Ingredients
1 x 400g block puff pastry
500g pork mince
5 rashers streaky bacon (or 3-4 rashers shoulder bacon), chopped
2 medium onions, finely chopped or grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups finely chopped spinach
2 tsp tomato paste
1 egg, lightly beaten
15-20 fresh sage leaves, chopped (or 2 tsp dried)
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
½ cup couscous soaked in ½ cup boiled water
Zest of 1 lemon
Method
Defrost the pastry (either in the fridge or place the whole packet in a bowl of warm water).
Preheat oven to 175˚C fan bake, and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Heat a big splash of olive oil in a large pan over a medium-high heat. Add bacon and fry until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Reduce the heat to medium, drain the excess fat from the pan, add another splash of olive oil, add the onion and garlic and cook for around 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Add the spinach and cook for another few minutes until the spinach is wilted and most of the moisture has evaporated from it.
Place the pork mince in a large bowl with the onion mixture, bacon, tomato paste, egg, couscous, sage, marjoram and lemon zest. Add ½ a teaspoon salt and 1/2 tsp white pepper (if you have it, or use a good hit of cracked pepper). Mix and scrunch it all with cleans hands to combine thoroughly. Set aside.
Roll out the pastry on a clean floured benchtop until it’s about 3-4mm thick (you’ll need to sprinkle the top with flour too as you’re rolling). Cut into two even long rectangles and arrange the mince filling in neat logs down the middle of each rectangle, lengthways.
Fold up both sides of the pastry snugly to meet on top, and brush egg wash on both parts where the pastry joins up, and press to seal. Trim excess pastry leaving about 1-2cm overlap. Cut the rolls into thirds or quarters with a sharp knife and place seam-side down on the lined baking tray, a few centimetres apart.
Brush the rolls all over with the egg wash and prick the tops a few times with a fork to let the steam escape during cooking. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, poppy seeds or fennel seeds.
Bake in the lower half of the oven for around 45 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and puffed up. Serve with a fresh salad and a dollop of tomato relish or peach chutney.
I have just made these, (I made small sausage rolls for a staff morning tea), using my home made pastry. and I also added grated carrot and chia seeds too, still they turned out perfectly, my family (my guinea pigs for most of my trial recipes) just loved them, thank you.
Can you omit the couscous? Will it make much difference?
You can omit if you like, or use breadcrumbs instead.
Hi Chelsea :) Just a quick question regarding the cooking temperature…I don’t have a fan bake function (stock standard classic El budgo oven) do I need to adjust the cooking temperature/time? Thanks in advance and keep these recipes coming!! You are quite a talent.
Same temp is fine!
Hi, have you ever tried these with wild venison sausages? I’m not sure what herbs to use with those?
Sounds yum!
Wow, they are magnificent. Just made them. Thank you so much x
Well it has taken me forever to actually make a sausage roll and tried this one and love it.. surprised at how easy it is and so great to be able to make a few up ahead of time and freeze until needed
Hi chelsea. I love making when I need to take a plate somewhere and I usually make mini ones. Ive made them a few time discovered something really yummy. I spread tomato relish on the pastry then put the meat filling in a roll them up so its like having the tomato sauce on the inside of the sausage roll. Its that amazing sweetness that pops.
Thank you so much for this recipe – my boss made them for morning tea and they were the best sausage rolls for a shout ……… ever and we tend to get through a few each year!!
I want to make these for my in-laws for lunch on Sunday but we have a really busy morning so want to prepare them the night before – can I make them up and then cook the next day or should I cook them when I make them then reheat the next day?
Yes you can make them up and keep them in the fridge before baking.
Sounds good but what is a rasher measurement ,never heard of it?
Could you substitute the cous cous with rice? Do you think it would still have the same consistency?
I am going to make this today for my son’s 2nd birthday party. It is not till tomorrow. So I would like to know if it is OK to cook the rolls today and reheat for a bit before the party start tomorrow ? Will it taste OK?
Yes!
Delicious! Kids loved them too, a real winner and will definitely be featuring again in our house :)
What can I use instead of cous cous to make these GF? I’m all good for pastry. Maybe quinoa?
Yep!
Can you just omit the cous cous for a gluten free version? Or would you replace it with quinoa or something similar? (And yes obviously gluten free pastry!)
Quinoa would be great :)
Any substitute for pork? I actually asked once before but lost that message :/
You could use chicken mince!
Hi Chelsea,
Would you be able to freeze these once they are cooked?
Hi Michelle, I would freeze them after assembly but before cooking – to make sure the pastry remains delicious.
Tried these today. Used fennel instead of sage and made bite size ones to serve as cocktail food. Delicious!! Thank you.
I’m thinking about making these for a morning tea shout (approx 20 people), along with some other goodies & was wondering if I’ll need to double the recipe, or if I can just cut them smaller? How big would you say these sausage rolls are, following your directions?
Hi Kylie, my recipe makes 6 big sausage rolls about 13cm long – 1 would serve a light eater for a meal and 2 would suit a guy. So I reckon double it :) And cut them smaller too!
Have these in the oven now, smell so good! I had quite abit of leftover pork mix, was wondering what to do with it, the only idea I could come up with is making them into hamburger patties, any other ideas? Thanks for the recipe, have made quite a few of of yours, some from website and some from book and they all taste delish. Thanks Kylie
Hi Kylie, great to hear! Why not make some little meatballs with them and fry them up? Then you can either serve on a nice sandwich or with some pasta, cheese and chopped tomatoes?
luv your recipes Chelsea, thanks for sharing xxx
Going to have to give these a go but with filo thanks to being dairy free. Will let you know how they go
Thank you for this recipe Chelsea. They look absolutely delicious, and I’m sure that my family will want me to make them for dinner on a warm spring evening – perfect with salad veges straight out of the garden. Yummmm.
Thank you Chelsea!!! So excited about this recipe! Glad you chose it over the quiche :)