The sausage roll is to Australiana what ambrosia was to the greek gods. Flakey, savoury and steadying, those stuffed bits of puff pastry are the, rather dense, pillars of what we can unanimously agree upon as Australian cuisine. In miniature form, they're the ultimate party snack. On a road trip you'll find one perfectly hot in a local bakery and, at worst, lukewarm in the service station.  They're an enviable hand warmer at your local sporting ground and at their best, a mouth-watering treat inspiring you to make your own. And so, for the times when the fabled sausage roll is the only thing that will fill the void, here's a recipe à la Sonoma for how to make it at home.

This recipe makes 10 portions.

Ingredients:

FILLING

•  1/3 cups Breadcrumbs
•  Half of a medium-sized Brown Onion
• 2 tsp Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp Fennel Seeds
• 1 Garlic Clove Minced
• 1 Grated Carrot
• Half of a Green Apple
• 1 tsp Mixed Herbs
• 1 tsp Olive Oil
• 500g Pork Mince
• 2 tsp Salt
• 2 tbsp Pepe Saya Unsalted Cultured Butter
• 1 tsp White Pepper

PASTRY

• 2-3 Sheets Sonoma Artisan Sourdough Bakers x Pepe Saya Puff Pastry

Method

FILLING

1. Peel and grate carrot, dice onion, shred the green apple, then set aside.
2. In a hot pan melt the Pepe Saya Unsalted Cultured Butter, then add olive oil, and sauté the garlic before stirring in the carrot, onion, and green apple.
3. In a separate pan, toast the fennel seeds until golden brown.
4. Add the toasted fennel seeds and mixed herbs into to the carrot, onion, and green apple stirring until soft, then add brown sugar.
5. Set aside and allow to cool.
6. In a mixing bowl, combine the mince pork, cooled vegetable mixture, breadcrumbs, salt and white pepper.

ASSEMBLY

1. Remove the Pepe Saya x Sonoma Puff Pastry Sheets from the freezer and allow rest.
2. Once the puff pastry sheets have been thawed, lightly flour a clean surface, and use a rolling pin to rollout the sheets to an even 2mm thickness. Try to maintain the rectangle shape of the pastry.
3. Place the sausage roll filling in a piping bag and cut the tip to the desired thickness of the size of sausage rolls you want to make.
4. Pipe the meat in a straight even line across the base of pastry.
5. Roll the meat filling up and brush a small amount of water on the edge of the pastry to stick to itself. It is important that the pastry overlaps by at least 5mm so that the seam does not split during baking.
6. Cut the sausage rolls to the desired size and place them on a baking tray with the seam down.
7. Repeat steps 4 through 6 until you have used the full puff pastry sheet or all the filling.
8. Before baking, prick the top of the sausage roll once or twice with a fork. This will allow excess steam to escape when baking.
9. Egg wash the pastry and bake at 210 C° for 25 to 30 minutes. **preferable to use fan forced oven but convention also works.

Classic Sausage Rolls can be stored unbaked in the freezer. Ensure each Classic Sausage Roll is individually wrapped to avoid sticking and becoming icy. Classic Sausage Roll can then be removed and placed directly into a pre-heated oven as/when required.

Next up, try a recipe for medicinal brownies.