Ohhhhh baby, Sausage Rolls. I know if you’re from the UK or Australia, then you totally understand where I’m coming from with this bundle of golden goodness.
But if you’re from the US, or somewhere else, I know that this might take a little selling. Or not, you know, because puff pastry is maybe doing the selling for me?
Sausage rolls are classic Aussie street food. You can get them pretty much everywhere – they are available at every single bakery in the land, at tuckshops in schools, and in every service station (known here as ‘the servo’). There’s nothing like getting your crunchy, hot sausage roll, wrapped up in a brown paper bag, and just the perfect size and shape to be eaten as you’re walking along on a bright Winter’s day.
The problem is, a good sausage roll is hard to find.
The gist of it is this: sausage meat wrapped in puff pastry. Obviously there is a lot of room for error here. If the sausage isn’t good quality it’s game over. If the puff pastry is gummy, or greasy, or made with some weird non-butter substitute, then the whole experience is a wash.
That’s why I’m giving you this recipe. Because these are the best damn sausage rolls you will ever eat in your life. Crisp, golden, flaky-flaky-flaky pastry (homemade; it’s easier than you think), and good quality sausages, mixed with breadcrumbs, herbs and golden onions, to create the most delicious, scrumptious filling ever. These guys cannot be beat.
xx Sarah.
- 1 + ½ cups (225g) plain flour
- pinch of salt
- 2 sticks (250g) butter, cold
- ½ cup (125ml) ice cold water
- 2 small onions, sliced
- 1 tsp butter + 1 tsp oil
- 2 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped (approx. 1 tbsp chopped rosemary)
- 14 oz (400g) good quality beef sausages (about four large sausages)
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- 1 egg, optional, to brush the top of the pastry
- To make the pastry, place the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into ½inch (1cm) cubes and toss it with the flour, briefly.
- Using a butter knife to stir, slowly pour in the water, incorporating it as you go, until it is all absorbed. The butter will still be in cubes. Pat the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic, and place in the coldest part of the fridge for about 20 minutes.
- When the 20 minutes are up, generously flour a work surface, and place the dough onto it. Using a well-floured rolling pin, begin to press down onto the dough. You are aiming to flatten out those cubes of butter. Keep going until the dough is about ½ inch (1cm) thick, and then begin to roll the dough out into a rectangle about 15x8inches (40x20cm).
- Place the rectangle with the short side facing you, and fold the top and bottom edges into the middle. Then fold the top edge over the bottom edge, and turn the dough 90 degrees, so the fold is on your right, like a book.
- Roll the dough out again into the same shape, and fold it again, repeating this process two more times. When the dough has been folded the final time, wrap it in plastic again, and place it in the fridge. After about 20 minutes chilling, it will be ready to go. You can leave it in the fridge, well wrapped for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- To make the filling, finely slice the onions, and place them in a large frying pan with the oil, butter and rosemary. Cook the onions over a medium-low flame, stirring occasionally for at least 25 minutes, or until they are deeply golden, and dark brown in patches. Set aside to cool.
- Remove the sausage meat from the casings, and place in a large mixing bowl, with the breadcrumbs and cooled onion. Mix together well.
- When you're ready to bake the sausage rolls, preheat the oven to 425F (220C).
- Roll out the pastry on a well floured surface, to a square about 13x13inches (33x33cm).
- Divide the pastry into two rectangles, and then take half of the filling, and form it into a long sausage shape down the centre of each rectangle.
- Roll the pastry around the filling to enclose it, and then slice each log into three sausage rolls. Transfer the sausage rolls to a lined baking sheet, brush with beaten egg (if desired), and cut decorations into the top of the pastry (if you want to). Bake the sausage rolls for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Enjoy!
My mum makes INSANELY good sausage rolls, the kind that people go out of their way to buy in her shop. Even her beloved first born (me) can’t wrangle the recipe from her, but these look just as good, so I’m giving them a crack this weekend. I love sausage rolls!
I LOVE sausage rolls. They are heaven wrapped up. These look amazing. I didn’t know they were so popular in Australia, I thought it was just a British thing ????????
Dude, we are ALL ABOUT the sausage rolls over here! We love ’em!
You stop this. Right. Now. I haven’t had an authentic Australian sausage roll, but my mom occasionally makes something similar around the holidays, although it’s not as from-scratch as this. But how can you go wrong by wrapping the best kind of meat in the best kind of dough? Holy moly. I wonder if I can convince my husband to make these for me while we’re taking our respective maternity and paternity leaves…
I’ll NEVER STOP!
Soo glad this isn’t just a British love affair. Sausage meat wrapped in puff pastry rocks my world!
WHOA! We don’t have these in the US but they look alot like croissants so I don’t need much convincing!
Those sausage rolls look divine!
This sounds like the ultimate comfort food. Mmmm.
These look so ridiculously delicious! Although I may cause a riot by saying I hate onions in my sausage rolls. It’s just the texture, not the taste, so I might replace them with some onion powder instead.
Beef sausage rolls don’t exist in the UK and I have to say that their pork ones just don’t compare to a good Aussie one. Same with their pies. Beef sausages can also be hard to find, but I’m totally going on a mission to find some just for this taste of home!
Whenever I am in a shop with my kids I pretty much have to take a detour so we don’t run into the sausage roll aisle because my kids would convince me to buy a bunch every single time without a fail. Now I am thinking why fight it…They are totally awesome, feeling hungry and inspired at the same time!
These are totally a thing here in holland too! They are really the best thing ever, especially whilst weaning a hangover. Noms!
Sausage-roll-addicted-American here! I discovered the awesomeness on my honeymoon in England, and have served them at a few parties I’ve hosted back home. I’m so excited to try your recipe this year!!
Mmmmm……sausage rolls!! I think this is one of the foods I miss the most from living in the UK. It’s funny because the other day I was having a mini debate with myself as to whether these or the deep fried sausage rolls you get in the fish and chip shop are better. I am still at a stalemate.
I am a pastry QUEEN and i have yet to try these. Good thing you posted this amazing recipe i probably wouldn’t have found out about this yummy pastry! This is the best part about following amazing food blogs, you learn something new everyday!
Could you recommend a store bought bread or croissant to make for this? Thank you.
Hi Tammy – I would reccomend using a good quality all-butter puff pastry. That would work fantastically!
xx
Sarah
Love em! We eat them too in South Africa. Having withdrawals here in America!
Ive NEVER had a sausage roll. but seriously… I want want. Especially this one!!
As a Swede, I didn’t encounter this phenomenon until I moved to Holland, where they’re called “Saucijzenbroodjes”. It’s impossible to pronounce without sounding like an idiot…
Oh man – I wouldn’t even know where to begin with pronouncing that!
Hey! Just a question, since I was thinking about making them with a different filling. Are the sausages you use already cooked? Or do they get cooked during the baking?
They are raw, and the get cooked during baking, my dear!
I decided I was going to make these for my coach’s birthday, because he’s an Aussie and misses the homeland. However, I’ve never made anything close to sausage rolls and thought by the time I put them in the oven that I’d completely screwed it up–as in, I used store-bought kielbasa that was nigh impossible to remove from the casing, was out of rosemary, and didn’t have a rolling pin for the dough. However, I took it out of the oven, cringed at how it looked… and then nearly died and went to heaven at how it tasted. Props to you, pretty sure this recipe is infallible!
WOW, thats awesome! High freaking fives!
Just pulled these out of the oven. I can’t wait to try them!! Mmmm!!! actually made them for my daughters school lunches but wanted to try one with my husband when he came home from work. I was going to make the sauce for him. But the recipe isn’t included.!! Any suggestions?
Hi Shannon! Thanks for trying these, I hope everyone likes them! The sauce in the pictures is actually just a good quality store-bought barbeque sauce. But if you wanted to go homemade, this Spicy Ketchup from Joy the Baker sounds awesome: http://joythebaker.com/2013/07/recipes/homemade-spicy-ketchup/
xx
Sarah