Home made sausage rolls: worth the faff?

[MorrisZapp]

I've never made sausage rolls before but we've got friends coming round next weekend for drinks and a buffet. I quite fancied giving it a go, is it worth it? And if so, is there a simple and failsafe recipe/ method? I'm not a skilled cook as you can probably guess 😊

Absolutely no faff at all.

1x tube of puff pastry
1x tub of sausage meat
1x tin of cranberry sauce

Made me 24 mini sausage rolls. Of which 7 were devoured and the rest crammed into the freezer to help me avoid the temptation 😂.

You could do lots of flavour combos;

Sausage and mustard
Chorizo sausage
Sausage and stuffing
Sausage and Brie 🤩

I've just seen a recipe today on the BBC Good Food website for sausage rolls cooked in the air fryer: it uses ready made pastry, and sausage meat mixed with apple sauce and sage.

Genuis idea

I always make festive ones this time of year. I do ready rolled puff pastry, sausage meat mixed with some sage and onion stuffing, Red Leicester cheese then add some mint sauce to some and cranberry sauce to the others. Roll them up , slice , egg wash and put in the oven. Amazing every time and whenever I visit family they request I make them and bring them along!

I usually use pork mince rather than sausage meat and add breadcrumbs, nutmeg, pepper and whatever seasoning I fancy,
cheddar and crispy bacon lardons,
Sage and onion,
Chilli jam,
Red onion chutney,
Apple sauce and leeks,
Black pudding,
Cranberry sauce,
Barbecue sauce.

My sister just wraps sausages or pigs in blankets in pastry but I find that makes the bit that's covered in pastry a bit flobby.

You are entitled to feel differently!

The sausage rolls the butcher makes are the best I've found. As an occasional treat I don't care that they are more expensive.

If I'm going to make something myself it has to be a) significantly healthier (which I don't think it is in my case, especially if I don't make my own pastry), or b) so much tastier that it's worth the effort. Sausage rolls fail for me on both counts.

I make mine with grated apple in, a little dried sage and I brush a line of hoisin sauce inside the strips of pre bought puff pastry which makes them sweet and a little sticky!

I top them with an egg wash and nigella seeds and slash the tops open to help them release the moisture so no soggy pastry.

They take minutes and so delicious!

Tbf you can buy sausage meat this time of year.
Usually at a butchers or farmshop
It's a big tube and is usually easier and more economical if you are doing a big batch
I always have a box ready to eat at Christmas and New year.

I've made my own sausage rolls loads of times in the last few years and I would say no, it's not worth it.

The best are the ones fresh from a proper bakery. OMG they are delicious and you just can't replicate it at home.
Spend a tenner and save yourself all the bother.

Always do home made sausage rolls for parties at our house and they always go down very well

Nah, couldn't be bothered faffing and home cooking for sausage rolls. But each to their own.

I use the ready made from our local butcher. Place on tray. Place in oven. Remove from oven. Eat.

So easy. Ready rolled puff pastry and some decent sausages. The skins are so fragile now you don’t have to take them off. One roll of pastry will make 16 small sausage rolls. Cut the pastry in half horizontally, lay out the sausages close together. Use beaten egg along the edges and seal with a fork. Cut each length into 8 pieces. Brush with beaten egg and use fork to pierce the top of each roll. Cook in a hot oven for about 25/30 minutes. Delicious and so much better than ready made. I sometimes sprinkle cheese on the top before cooking.

Definitely and it's not exactly a faff unless you make the pastry from scratch.

The only thing is that good sausage rolls are my kryptonite and I would eat far too many.

Perhaps you aren't a very good cook 😂

Homemade are the bomb!!

I use sausages as it's generally easier to get hold of (and not pay a Christmas premium).

I then add herbs or things like caramelised onions or apple or paprika or cheese... There's loads of ways to make them fancier.

My mother used to make her own, on Christmas Eve, with sausagemeat from the butcher round the corner and homemade flaky pastry. Absolutely top.

And cook it on the baking parchment that comes with the pastry, no messy tray

Use the ready rolled puff pastry. Split in into 3 pieces. Take 6 sausages of your choice and skin them. Place 2 skinned sausages into each piece of pastry. Crack an egg and beat, then use to egg wash each piece of pastry before wrapping around the sausages and place the sealed edge under the sausage roll. Cut each of the 3 parts into 6 pieces (ie 3 sausage rolls per sausage). Brush with egg yolk and bake at around 180 degrees fan for 12 - 15 minutes.

I use a non stick tray to bake them on, but baking parchment is good if you don’t have a non stick tray

I've made them for packed lunches - they go down well - didn't find them very faffy.

I've done them with home made rough puff and short crust and pre done pasty but tend to use pork mince add flavourings and bread crumbs and egg and onion and sometimes apple.

Homemade sausage rolls are fantastic.

https://www.recipetineats.com/special-pork-fennel-sausage-rolls/

This recipe is very reliably good. You need 2 x rolls of ready rolled Jus Rol. Cut each in half lengthways so you end up with four lengths of sausage rolls (before you cut to size).

I add some chopped chestnuts to mine

Addition of half a jar of apple sauce and a good grating of cheddar on top of the rolls before baking is our best combo.

delias veg ones tend to leach the contents so my approach is to bake super long rolls and cut them into segments when cooked.

both meat and delia can be pre-prepped and cooked from frozen. Layer pre-cut rolls in a Tupperware between sheets of grease proof paper to enable you to defrost as few or as many as your need without them being stuck in a big block. Nothing nicer on Boxing Day than some leftovers with some fresh hot sausage rolls as a buffet.

Some fantastic recipes on here! I'm wondering if haggis ones would work?

I add onion or leeks, mustard, nutmeg, pepper/garlic etc