Sausage Rolls

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I've been a long time fan and viewer of Food Wishes over on YouTube, and this is my first attempt at making something from it. As usual, I modify things as I go, and seem to be unable to follow a recipe completely.

Ingredients

^{Missing from image is the puff pastry, because it was still in the freezer, and the egg}

500 grams Pork mince
4 teaspoons Rock Salt
2 teaspoons Black Peppercorns
2 teaspoons Fennel Seeds
1/4 teaspoon Ground Coriander
1/8 teaspoon Cayenne
1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg
2 tablespoons mixed herbs
2 tablespoons Onion, finely chopped
3 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
2 sheet Puff Pastry
1 Egg, beaten with a teaspoon of water

Method

• Put the mince into a large bowl.

• Grind the Salt, Peppercorns and Fennel Seed in a mortar and pestle (or a spice grinder if you have one)

^{leftovers of this mix can be stored in a spice jar until needed again}

• Add 2 tablespoons of the mixture to the mince, along with all the other spices, onion and garlic.

• Mix all of this together well, though try not to overwork the meat as it will make for a very solid roll.

• Take half the mixture and form into a log about the width of the puff pastry on some cling wrap. Roll up inside the wrap and place in the fridge. Repeat with the other half and leave them in the fridge for 15 mins (or more if you want)

• When the pastry has softened, place it on some baking paper (or do this earlier and let it soften there)

• When the filling has chilled, take one of the logs out of the fridge and unroll the wrap so it rolls onto the pastry.

^{I was a little short on the length of the roll}

• Carefully roll the pastry over the log and find where it starts to overlap. Trim the pastry, allowing for about a 1 cm overlap.

• Squish the edges of the pastry and brush both edges with the beaten egg and secure them together.

• Repeat with the other piece of pastry and other log of mixture

• Place both long rolls in a container and put in the freezer for 10 to 20 minutes to make the pastry a bit easier to cut

• Remove from the freezer and brush both rolls with egg wash before cutting into 8 pieces each.

^{Egg wash done on both. Halve, Halve again, and Halve them again in process on lower roll}

• Place the 16 pieces on a lined tray, giving them each a bit of a press on the top so they'll stay upright through cooking

• Bake in the oven at 180 C for 30 - 35 minutes, until golden.

Serve with your choice of sauces

Thoughts

I think I overworked the mixture a little. As opposed to my reference work, I used my hands to mix it. It's still good, but a little tight. I also didn't use breadcrumbs, as I forgot to get them out, and this may have helped make the mixture better.

I wasn't happy with how much they managed to firm up during the time in the freezer, but I did only leave them in there for about 10 minutes. Thankfully I have quite a sharp knife, and the careful cutting was mostly ok, but the pastry certainly squished and doesn't show as clear layers on the edge like Chef John's do. It's still lovely and flaky though.

I cut out a few steps from the video, as they weren't necessary (such as cutting and joining my pastry) to make it a simpler process. Could probably be simpler but I wanted the steps to be clear.

Hopefully you enjoy these, as I'm certainly going to enjoy them over the next few days.