Pork and Apple Sausage Rolls

I've been informed that Toasted Sandwiches are getting a bit boring

With a week of Winter break School Holidays left, apparently I need to come up with something a bit more inspiring for littlej to munch on.
She is generally happy being left to free-range and graze from the riches of both refrigerator and pantry, but it's slim pickings after a week and I haven't yet resorted to junk food to keep her quiet.

She wants something warm and tasty, and I want something easy, warm and tasty that can be reheated well and that we can both enjoy.....pies are out- I have yet to find a gf one that is even remotely edible, soup is out- we've been having plenty of that for dinner so it's 'boring' too, how about Sausage Rolls?

Warm, tasty, will last a couple of days, and if I use pre-packaged pastry really easy to make indeed. Perfect solution!


To keep things really simple, today I'm giving the new Simply Gluten Free brand that has recently been released at Coles Supermarket a try. It's not terribly cheap, at $10 for 3 standard size sheets, but it certainly is convenient as I can just pull it out the freezer whenever I want.
This isn't a paid for or gifted product review, it's just to satisfy my personal curiosity of a new product and to share my findings with you too Dear Readers

The sheet of pastry- I did find out there is a flat surface and a ridged surface. Not a problem for today's recipe, but important to remember if I'm worried about appearances on the finished product

Now the very important filling!

500grm Pork Mince
1 medium Carrot- don't bother to peel
1 Green Apple- don't bother to peel
1 small Onion- definitley peel
2 slices of gluten free Bread
1 big tab Dijon Mustard
Salt and Pepper to taste
good pinch of Nutmeg

1 Egg- beaten lightly
Sesame Seeds

Pop the prepped apple and veggies into a food processor and whizz up until very finely chopped

See, nice and small
You could also chop them by hand, or grate them if you had too

Add in the bread slices, mustard and seasonings and whizz again until a nice mushy mess
I didn't use egg to bind the mixture today as it can make the mix quite hard as it cooks, and I wanted a soft, pasty kind of effect. I knew the moisture from the apple would work with the bread to hold it all together quite well

Pop the veggie mix in with the pork mince and mix together really well

Let's face it, the best way to do this is by squishing it all through your fingers- and it's actually kinda fun too :)

For generously proportioned sausage rolls, take a third of the mixture and lay it near one edge of the pastry sheet. You can see that I kept the plastic backing on it for now so it wouldn't stick to the bench

Brush the opposite side of the pastry sheet with the beaten egg so it will glue together as it cooks

Using the plastic backing to help you, roll the pastry around the meat filling, and over to conceal the joined seam of pastry underneath the sausage roll . Try and keep it tight as the meat filling will shrink a bit as it cooks

Brush the top and sides of the finished sausage roll with the egg and sprinkle it generously with the sesame seeds for a bit of colour and added texture. Place on a greased baking sheet then bake at 180*C for about 45 minutes or until the centre is cooked through

From left to right- 'regular' gluten puff pasty for comparison, gluten free puff pastry that snapped as it rolled as you really need to make sure that it's completely thawed all the way through, juuuuust right gluten free sausage roll that shall be my photographic model

Finished product, but the tray got turned around so the regular gluten pastry is now on the right
Don't worry and think that the rolls are burnt, that's just the juices that have oozed out as they cooked. You have to remember that apple and onions have a lot of natural sugars and that's all you can see caramelised on the base of the pan

Lovely!

I really enjoyed these sausage rolls, the filling had plenty of flavour from the apples and veggies, and they kept it nice and moist too -  but the pastry.....was just OK. It was a fine gluten free pastry that baked up well and really didn't add any flavour. It was a good carrier for the rolls and would be for a tart base too. I didn't see any evidence of Puffing though, so sadly I don't think it lives up to the expectation that calling it Puff Pastry gives. Don't think from the photo that the pastry is undercooked, it tasted fine and certainly had no doughy rawness, it just behaved differently than hoped for.

I would use this pastry again as it was Adequate

There was no rich, buttery crunch or flakes, and you really need to make sure that it's thawed well to be pliable- but it's OK as plain pastry.
I think if you lower your expectations just a little you'll be happy that Coles have come up with a handy, convenient, adequate pastry product that you can have on hand when needed.
Just not puffy :(

So Dear Readers, do you use Pre-packaged puff pastry, or do you go to the effort of making your own?