Classic Sausage Rolls
Proper flaky sausage rolls with sage and onion, party gold.
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Before You Start
A great sausage roll is seasoned sausagemeat with something to say (sage, onion, a hit of mustard) wrapped in all-butter puff with an egg-gloss shine. This makes a dozen party-size or six lunch-size, and the unbaked rolls freeze so well that making a double batch is simply correct planning.
Instructions
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1
Mix the sausagemeat, onion, sage, mustard, breadcrumbs and pepper thoroughly. The breadcrumbs keep the filling juicy rather than dense.
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2
Unroll the pastry and cut it lengthways into two long strips.
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3
Shape half the filling into a long cylinder down the centre of each strip. A piping bag with the end snipped off makes this neater, hands work fine.
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4
Brush one long edge of each strip with egg, fold the pastry over the filling, and press the seam closed with a fork. Roll each log seam-side down.
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5
Chill the logs 20 minutes, then cut each into 6 with a sharp knife. Heat the oven to 200°C / 400°F.
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6
Space the rolls on a lined tray, glaze all over with egg, scatter with seeds, and slash each top twice. Bake 22 to 26 minutes until puffed, deep gold, and sizzling underneath. Cool 10 minutes, or serve hot and accept the casualties.
💡 Baker's tips
- Chill before cutting. A cold log cuts into neat rolls, a warm one squashes into pastry-wrapped regret.
- Real butcher sausagemeat or good sausages, skinned. The filling is 80 percent of the roll, and cheap sausagemeat bakes out greasy.
🔀 Make it your own
- Add a tablespoon of caramelised onion chutney to the mix, or wrap the filling with a line of the chutney under it.
- Chorizo-spiked: swap a third of the sausagemeat for soft cooking chorizo, skinned and crumbled.
📦 Storing & freezing
Airtight in the fridge for 3 days, refreshed at 180°C for 6 minutes. The unbaked glazed rolls freeze for 3 months and bake from frozen with 8 extra minutes, which is the whole point of making them.
❓ Frequently asked
Why are my sausage rolls greasy underneath?
Fatty sausagemeat and a cool oven. Use decent meat, bake at a proper 200°C so the pastry sets before the fat renders out, and bake on parchment, not a greased tray.
Can you freeze sausage rolls before baking?
Yes, and you should: freeze them cut and glazed on a tray, then bag them. They bake from frozen at 200°C in about 30 minutes, tasting fresher than any reheated roll.
Baking in a different unit? Use the cups ↔ grams converter or the recipe scaler to halve or double this recipe.
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