Rough Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls

Rough Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls are surprisingly easy to make at home. Once you’ve tried them, I think you’ll agree that the homemade version of this popular British savoury snack is miles better than any mass produced offering.

If you’ve never made rough puff pastry before, don’t worry! I go through the simple method step-by-step in this post and the detailed recipe card at the end.

I’ll also give you suggestions for flavouring your homemade sausage rolls.

My mini sized sausage rolls, flavoured with fennel seed and onion, are perfect as a snack, for packed lunches, parties and picnics.

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SAUSAGE ROLLS

Sausage rolls should be a thing of beauty.

Succulent pork, perfectly seasoned, encased in light, buttery pastry that flakes as you eat it.

But, to my dismay, most of the sausage rolls you can buy are a pale imitation of that ideal.

With poor quality, intensively reared meat (good luck finding free range pork in a mass-produced sausage roll) and palm oil-laden pastry, I wouldn’t feed them to my dog.

While there are honourable exceptions found in quality bakeries, butchers, farm shops and the like, homemade sausage rolls aren’t difficult at all.

Traditionally, puff pastry is used for sausage rolls. But in this post, I’m going to make things simpler by sharing my recipe for Rough Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls.

PUFF vs ROUGH PUFF PASTRY

In classic puff pastry, a block of cold butter is enclosed in a sheet of flour and water pastry. It’s then folded and rolled out several times, chilling between each fold. The end result should be a light pastry with flaky layers.

With rough puff though, we add the butter in little pieces. You can dice it, although I usually just grate it. Dipping the block in the flour now and then will stop it sticking to the grater.

The dough is then brought together with water to which you’ve added a touch of lemon juice. The lemon juice makes it easier to roll out and fold.

As with puff pastry, for rough puff you first roll out the dough into a rectangle. It’s then folded into thirds by bringing the bottom third up to the middle, then bringing the top third down to cover it.

Note that the full, detailed instructions are in the recipe card at the end of the post: this is just a summary.

Don’t worry if, like mine in the image above, your ‘rectangle’ (!) starts off looking very rough. It will gradually neaten up as you fold and roll it several times.

Likewise, your parcel of folded dough will get much better looking and evenly shaped too. The image directly above shows it at the start of the process and at the end.

Because the ‘puff’ in the pastry is created by the pieces of cold butter melting as it cooks, you’ll need to chill the dough between each rolling out and folding.

I wrap the dough in foil or cling film and pop it in the fridge for fifteen minutes before rolling out again. You can leave it longer if that’s more convenient.

The rolling, folding and chilling is repeated a further three times. In between, you can be getting on with making the sausagemeat filling.

SAUSAGEMEAT FILLING

You will probably have your own idea about the perfect filling in a sausage roll.

I always start with good quality, free-range pork sausagemeat. And that’s what I get from either Dunwood Farm Butchery (aka The Village Butcher Ipstones) or Denstone Hall Farm Shop.

Texture wise, I like a softish rather than firm filling. This means that if my sausagemeat consists solely of meat then I’ll add some breadcrumbs to loosen it.

Check the ingredients list on yours or ask the butcher. If it includes something like ‘rusk’ then you probably won’t need to add any crumbs.

But I highly recommend taking a teaspoonful, forming it into a little patty, frying and tasting it anyway. What’s the texture like? Does it have enough seasoning?

After I’ve added my own flavourings and seasonings I fry another piece and taste it. I think it’s really worth doing this extra step to get the best, tastiest Rough Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls you can.

For the sausagemeat you see in this post, I added a finely chopped onion which I cooked in olive oil along with salt, pepper and fennel seeds.

I also often add grated apple to my sausagemeat, like those below which I made last Christmas. This adds a sweet-tart edge which is a classic with pork.

However, the current batch was destined for a picnic to which I was also contributing Savoury Flapjacks with Apple, Cheese & Walnuts and I didn’t want to double up on the apple.

Here’s a few more suggestions for flavouring your sausagemeat:

• Garlic: add it to the onion for the final few minutes of cooking
• Herbs such as sage, chives, parsley, wild garlic
• Cheese e.g. Cheddar, Parmesan
• Chopped chestnuts
• Smoked paprika for a chorizo-like flavour
• Za’atar spice blend plus lemon zest for a Middle Eastern flavour
• Replace some of the sausagemeat with ‘nduja, black pudding or haggis

The possibilities really are endless!

MAKING ROUGH PUFF PASTRY SAUSAGE ROLLS

So, you’ve got your rough puff pastry made and sitting in the fridge. Ditto your perfectly seasoned sausagemeat with your chosen flavourings.

Now it’s time to put together the Rough Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls and bake them.

Start by taking the dough from the fridge and rolling it into a square approximately 4-5 mm thick. You can then cut the dough in half horizontally which will give you two equal sized rectangles.

Working with one of the rectangles at a time, put half the sausagemeat in a long line about a third of the way up the pastry. Make sure the filling goes right up to the edges.

To ensure a good seal, brush all around the sides of the dough with beaten egg diluted with a dash of milk. Then simply roll up as tight as you can, pressing well to seal.

After slashing the top all along its length, you can then cut the roll into eight pieces. Note that using a back and forth, sawing type motion with the knife, rather than a cut straight down, is less likely to squish your pastry!

Place the sausage rolls on a baking tray, slashed side up.

Repeat the process with the remaining dough and sausagemeat so you have 16 mini sausage rolls in total.

BAKING THE HOMEMADE SAUSAGE ROLLS

To get a lovely glaze on the sausage rolls, I brush over the remains of the beaten egg and milk.

For appearance as well as flavour, I like a few seeds sprinkled over the top too.

Here I’ve used sesame and nigella seeds, but replace with your favourite or leave off all together. To make sure they stick, I add another layer of egg glaze over the top.

Then it’s into a preheated oven. The Rough Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls will take 25 – 35 minutes to get risen, flaky, golden brown and absolutely irresistible.

Even if you plan to eat them straight away (and who would blame you?), they’ll benefit from a couple of minutes’ rest on a cooling rack.

Then, cook’s prerogative, take one and bite through the light crispy pastry and rich, meaty filling.

Wasn’t that worth it?

Every time I make sausage rolls, I can’t quite believe how such a simple thing can taste so good.

Yes, the instructions do appear long. But after making fantastic homemade sausage rolls with rough puff pastry even just once, you’ll know exactly what to do next time. They really are easy.

As well as warm from the oven, I love them cold too whether in a packed lunch or as part of a picnic.

And what traditional British buffet would be worthy of the name without a pile of tempting, bite-sized sausage rolls?

Whether you’re looking for a savoury snack for Summer picnics or your Christmas parties, I think Rough Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls will go down a storm.

Made this recipe?

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Rough Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls

The traditional British savoury snack of light pastry with a tasty sausagemeat filling isn't difficult to make at home with simplified puff pastry.

Course Snack

Cuisine British

Keyword baking, savoury pastries

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Chilling the pastry 1 hour

Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes

Servings 16 small sausage rolls

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

For the rough puff pastry

• 200 g plain flour plus extra for dusting
• ½ tsp salt
• 150 g butter cold from the fridge
• 125 ml chilled water
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 egg
• splash of milk

For the sausagemeat filling

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion skinned, finely chopped
• 2 tsp fennel seeds lightly crushed
• salt and black pepper
• 450-500 g pork sausagemeat
• 50 g breadcrumbs see Recipe Notes

Additional flavourings for the sausagemeat (optional)

• 1 medium apple peeled, cored, grated
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh herbs e.g. sage, parsley, chives

Garnish (optional)

• sesame seeds
• nigella seeds

Instructions

Make the rough puff pastry

1. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl.

   Coarsely grate the cold butter into the flour, regularly dipping the butter into the flour to stop it sticking to the grater.

   Mix the grated butter through the flour with a round bladed knife: try not to break up the butter.

2. Add the lemon juice to the chilled water.

   Gradually add all the liquid to the flour and butter mixture, stirring it in with the knife until the dough starts to come together.

   Bring the dough together into a ball using your fingertips then place it on the lightly floured work surface.

3. Shape the dough into a chunky block then, with a short side facing you, roll into a rectangle approximately 45x15 cm.

   It doesn't matter if your rectangle looks very rough: it will gradually neaten as you fold it during the next steps.

4. Pick up the bottom third of the dough and fold it over the middle third.

   Now pick up the top third and bring it down over both.

   Seal the open sides by pressing firmly with the rolling pin.

   Wrap the dough in foil or cling film then put in the fridge for 15 minutes.

5. Unwrap the dough and, with the folded sides to left and right, roll it into a rectangle again. Fold as before and seal the open sides again. Rewrap the dough and chill for 15 minutes.

   Repeat this process THREE more times then leave in the fridge until ready to make the sausage rolls.

Make the sausagemeat filling (can be done in advance or while the pastry is chilling)

1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over low-medium heat then add the chopped onion, fennel seeds, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until soft and golden (approx12-15 min).

   If using the optional apple and/or garlic, add to the pan for the last 5 minutes.

2. Put the sausagemeat in a bowl, along with the breadcrumbs if your sausagemeat does not already contain them or similar filler such as rusk (see Recipe Notes).

   Add the contents of the frying pan to the bowl along with the optional fresh herbs if using.

   Mix everything together well: using your hands is best.

   Recommended: take a teaspoon of the mixture, form it into a patty and fry. Taste and adjust the seasoning of the sausagemeat if necessary.

Make the sausage rolls

1. Preheat the oven to 200C / 180C Fan / Gas 6.

   Grease or line a large baking tray

2. In a small bowl, beat the egg with the splash of milk and set aside.

3. Take the pastry from the fridge, unwrap it and place on a lightly floured work surface.

   Roll into a square approximately 4-5 mm thick.

   Cut the square into two rectangles.

   Put one of the rectangles aside for now and place the other so that a long side is facing you.

4. Take half of the sausagemeat filling and place it in a long horizontal line roughly ⅓ up the dough.

5. Brush all the edges of the dough with some of the beaten egg and milk.

   Roll up the pastry to enclose the sausagemeat and press firmly on the join to seal it.

   With the sealed edge underneath, make slashes all along the length of the dough. Using a sawing motion so as to not squash the dough, cut it into 8 equal pieces (or less if you want larger sausage rolls).

   Place on the prepared baking tray.

   Repeat with the other pastry rectangle and remaining sausagemeat.

6. Brush the sausage rolls with the remaining egg and milk mixture.

   If adding the optional sesame and/or nigella seed garnish, sprinkle them over and brush with another layer of glaze.

7. Put in the preheated oven and bake until risen and golden brown (25-35 min).

   When done, transfer the sausage rolls to a wire rack to cool a little.

   Serve warm or leave until completely cold and store in an airtight container.

   Use within 3-4 days or freeze for 1 month.

Recipe Notes

If your sausagemeat already contains rusk, breadcrumbs or similar, you won't need the breadcrumbs listed in the recipe ingredients.

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