Quick and Simple Sausage Roll recipe

IT wouldn’t be a barbecue without sausages on the sizzle, and there are lots of ways to enjoy them.

This article was first published in 4x4 Australia's February 2011 issue.

They are cheap, and today butchers are devising all sorts of fantastic flavours for the once-humble sausage. Sausages can be barbecued, grilled, pan-fried or roasted.

These can easily be baked in your camp oven, or on the stovetop, in a Coleman Oven or in the Cobb.

INGREDIENTS

2 sheets ready-rolled frozen puff pastry – partially thawed
1 egg – lightly beaten and mixed with a dash of milk to make an egg wash
8 thick or thin beef sausages (not too long or they won’t fit into the pastry squares)

DIRECTIONS

• Bring a pot of water to the boil. Place sausages into the boiling water, reduce the heat and simmer for about five mins, or until firm to touch. Remove and drain. Allow to cool slightly.

• Preheat your camp oven/oven to around 200°C and place a trivet on the bottom.

• Line a baking tray (or similar) with baking paper. Place one sheet of pasty at a time on a workbench and cut into four squares.

• Brush pastry edges with egg wash.

• Top pastry square with a par-cooked sausage and roll up the pastry to enclose the sausage. Press the edges down to seal. Place, seam side down, on the tray. Repeat the process until you have used all of the sausages.

• Make slits in the top of each sausage roll with a knife to allow steam to escape. Brush the top of the pastry with egg wash.

• Place into hot camp oven, lid on, and bake for 15 minutes, or until pastry is golden. Oven: Preheat to 200°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

• Bake as above.

• Option: Sprinkle some grated cheese over the pastry square before topping with a sausage, then roll as above. Use your favourite sausage, or try some chipolata sausages for a change.

VIV's HINTS

They should be cooked slowly to prevent the interior from boiling too quickly and bursting the skin. Once the sausage is heated internally, increase the heat to brown the skin. Don’t pierce a good quality sausage; you’ll let all the moisture and flavour out. A good option is to poach (or blanch) sausages before using.

This will help to retain moisture and cook them right through. Then the barbecue just has to brown them. To blanch sausages, place them in a saucepan of cold water. Bring to a simmer then remove from heat and leave covered for 20 minutes, or simmer for five mins, until firmish when squeezed. (Do not boil.) Drain and cook, or refrigerate for later use.