Mini Sausage Rolls

Mini Sausage Rolls are a satisfying snack or a great lunch option. When you make them with a tasty, slightly hot-spicy filling, they are addictive. You are forewarned. As far as I know, sausage rolls are originally British, but it is a regular snack in The Netherlands as well. Also here in the US, this snack is a familiar item.

These Mini Sausage rolls are about half the size of what we are used to in the Netherlands. By the way, we call it a saucijzebroodje. The two major ingredients are pastry dough and ground meat. You can use ground pork and ground beef, either will work. I just like to use ground beef with a 15% fat content. Don’t use sausage meat, make your own, flavor your ground meat the way you like, that is so much better.

How to Make Mini Sausage Rolls

The meat

Ground pork or beef? Both are fine. Use meat that is not too fat and don’t add too many ingredients that will add even more fat to the sausage rolls. It is very tasty to saute onion, garlic, bacon and what else to add flavor, but you will also add fat. Realize that a sausage roll is already a hearty snack and the fat in the meat and the butter from the puff pastry is usually enough to satisfy you.

The flavor

Ingredients like spices and condiments are ideal to add flavor without a lot of extra fat. In The Netherlands a good sausage roll has a little bit of bite, a touch of heat. Tabasco and hot curry are the hot ingredients in this recipe of Mini Sausage Rolls.

Mix ground meat with breadcrumbs, 1 egg and spices, condiments and salt and pepper and mix. Don’t overdo the mixing. Like with meat balls or hamburgers, overmixing can lead to a very dense meat; you’ll need to keep it airy and light.

The preparation before baking

Once the meat is ready and the puff pastry dough is thawed, it is time to assemble the Mini Sausage Rolls. Cut one sheet of pastry dough in half, length-wise. Divide the meat in two and form a roll or log, the length of the dough.

Place the meat on the dough and brush one long side with egg. Roll it up, from the clean side to the side that is brushed with egg. Do the same with the other half. Now you’ll need to cut the long sausage into smaller parts. The easiest way to do this is to first refrigerate it for at least 1 hour. If you are in a hurry, you can do without the cooling part. Make sure you have a sharp knife.

If I were in Holland, I would cut the log in two, but I personally prefer to cut the log in 4 equal parts. Hence the Mini. The normal size is more a meal, not really a snack. After cutting the sausage rolls to length, brush each with egg. Place rolls, seam side down, on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and slide the packing sheet in a preheated oven of 350 degrees F.

Bake for about 35 minutes. The dough should be golden brown and the meat cooked. When your oven is too hot, the dough may be done, but not the meat. When the temperature is not high enough, the dough may become soggy.

How to eat the them

Try them just the way they are. You can eat them cold or warm. By far, I prefer to eat them warm. Dip in ketchup, serve with mustard. For a party one bite snack you can cut each mini log into 3 slices, but adjust the time of baking. If you keep the same time and temperature, you will end up with very dry meat.

Can you freeze sausage rolls?

Oh yes, very easily. You can freeze them unbaked and baked. Place unbaked sausage rolls in an airtight container. If you have more than one layer, place parchment paper in between layers. Thaw unbaked sausage rolls in fridge and bake according to recipe. Thaw baked sausage rolls in fridge and bake for 10-15 minutes in oven of 350 degrees F.