Recipe: Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls

I made these as "lunchables" for the week. It never even reached the next day. 

I remember when I used to study and work in the Philippines and I'd end up nursing a Starbucks drink  (while using up their wifi for free), I'd always order their sausage rolls. It was that or the lemon poppy seed loaf slice.

Starbucks opened in the Philippines year 1997, I was a wee bit young then. And honestly, all I really knew about the brand was their "mocha frappucino" because everyone was ordering it. I didn't really order anything else because in reality, I was intimated with their menu and didn't want to sound like an idiot with all the pretentious "coffee aficionados" around me. Really now... did they really appreciate true coffee if they went to Starbucks? In any case, I was happy with that Frap. But even happier when they widened their menu and showcased it in their display cases.

That's when I saw these sausage rolls. I was immediately drawn to it because it was flaky pastry. Of course, my go-tos were croissants (pain au chocolat to be exact). So when I tried this sausage roll, my mind just went numb at first bite. It was buttery, a slight tanginess from the mustard, the lemony taste of oregano and thyme, and the hint of maple and sage in the sausage blend. It was literally a breakfast sausage patty inside puff pastry. How can you go wrong?! They didn't! They did go wrong when after some time they thought, "Hmmm.... let's change the sausage." And they did.... they just put a whole wiener in there instead of real sausage. Why, Starbucks? Explain yourself.

In any case, since I bought a whole package of puff pastry and thought about this (and how convenient this would be for me and Carl to take for lunch), voila! I tried as much to remember the taste of it and was conflicted with the amount of herbs and salt content my memory could retain. What I remembered most was the buttery scent, the American mustard, and how juicy and succulent the sausage mixture was inside that pastry shell. But yeah, as much as this was a win that I was able to make it, sadly... it never reached our lunch bags. I made these on a Sunday afternoon, planning to get these into our lunch bags for at least Monday and Tuesday. Yeah... No. We ended up snacking on it in the afternoon. Then had a bit more before dinner.... At the end of the night, there was about 3-4 pieces left. So we didn't even bother taking it to work. 

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Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls 
I used 2 sheets of puff pastry. I was able to make 4-6 sausage rolls (depending on how thick you want the sausages inside), but I sliced them up into smaller bite-size pieces. 

You'll need a bowl, a spatula or wooden spoon some parchment (or baking mats), a rolling pin, 2 baking sheets, a pastry brush, and a cooling rack.

Ingredients
1 lb ground pork and beef (half and half)
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp sage
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp maple syrup

3 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 egg, large

yellow mustard (nothing fancy, just plain American mustard)
salt and pepper
2 puff pastry sheets

1 egg, beaten for egg wash

Everything bagel seasoning, for topping (optional, you can use oregano instead)

Procedure

1. Pre-heat your oven to 425℉. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper, or with making mats, and set aside. 

2. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients - pork/beef, spices, maple syrup, breadcrumbs, and egg. Mix it all together and really work it. Set aside to let it rest while you work with the puff pastry. 

3. Open up the puff pastry sheets and roll it out using the rolling pin until it's increased by 1 inch in all sides. Slice the sheet to have 3 equal sheet-strips. (You can also just make 2 strips, if you want thicker sausage rolls.)

4. For each puff pastry portion, spoon some of the meat mixture in the middle making a line (like a sausage) and top with a strip of mustard. Brush the edges of each portion to seal the edges. Make sure to let the sealed-side of the puff pastry lie flat on the baking sheet. Seal the 2 other edges and lightly score the top with diagonal slices, do not tear/slice through the pastry. Continue to do this until you've done all portions. Brush all sausage-pastry logs with egg wash and sprinkle some everything bagel seasoning or oregano, salt, and pepper. 

 

5.  Pop these into the oven and let them bake for 20 minutes. (You'll smell the savoury meat and spices, the sweet maple, and the butter in the pastry sheets bubbling to baked perfection. Hmmm...)

 

6. The hard part..... When they're done, you'll have to wait and give them a good 10 or so minutes of chill time on the cooling rack. If you you bite into them right away (and speaking from experience), you'll burn yourself. 

 

7. Finally.... ENJOY!!!! 

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*You'll see that I made 2 separate kinds (one with just a roll and the other with sealed edges and dents as divisions). The "just a roll" kind, I added some cheddar cheese and corn kernels. We finished those really quick. The "sealed edges" kind, I kept as the original recipe. And because they were ready to slice up and be bite-sized pieces, maaannn... you'll lose yourself if this is in front of you watching while watching Netflix. 

**I'll make your life extra easy too. If you don't have time to make the sausage mixture, you can definitely buy mmild Italian sausages and just throw out the casing. Some groceries even have sausage mixtures not in casing. 

***Add some heat. Unfortunately, I can't add any spice because my husband's allergic. But if you can, you can add some chilli flakes and smoked paprika. Hhhhmmm.... I just ate mine plain and some with a dash of hot sauce. 

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