Making the Short Crust Pastry
Sausage rolls are traditionally made using short crust pastry, even though there are some recipes that make sausage rolls using puff pastry. However, for that delicious, light and crispy result, you might want to stick to short crust pastry until you have gotten the hand of making sausage rolls.
When it comes to the pastry, you could easily buy already made pastry from the store. But if you prefer to make it by yourself, and this is advisable, then what you need to remember is that short crust pastry requires two times as much flour as the fat; that is, the amount of flour should be double that of the fat.
After you have made the short crust pastry, don’t forget to refrigerate for 30 minutes but wrap it in cling film before you do. After it has rested, it is ready to roll.
Ingredients for Making Sausage Rolls
Generally, each chef could probably come up with several different ingredients for making sausage rolls. This is because once you become familiar with the basics, there is a lot of room for you to let your creativity loose when you make sausage rolls. However, learning the basics is important and these include the traditional ingredients.
There is of course, the short crust pastry. For the filling, you would need pork sausage meat. Pork is the traditional sausage for sausage rolls but it can easily be replaced with beef or other sausage meat. You would also need an onion, an egg, some milk and a little bit of sage. As you become more comfortable with making sausage rolls, you should be able to add more ingredients to give it your own unique taste and flavor.
But these are the basics.
Making the Sausage Rolls
First you would need to preheat the oven. Once the pastry has been made, it should put on a floured surface and rolled into oblong shapes. This should be divided into handy sizes. Then mix the sausage meat with the onions and sage inside a mixing bowl. Next, roll out the mixture on a surface that has already been floured. Use your hands to roll the mixture into oblong shapes, making them as thin as possible. This should be divided and rolled into oblong strips that are a bit shorter than the strips of short crust pastry. The strips of sausage meat should be placed on the rolled out pastry; brush some egg along one side and seal the pastry as carefully as you can. Turn it to the other side and cut into small sized rolls then brush with beaten eggs. Once all the rolls are ready, they can either be baked immediately or frozen till you are ready.
Making sausage rolls is a fast and easy way to whip up a tasty snack. They can be eaten hot or cold, as a snack or as a side dish.
