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Pork and Fennel Sausage Rolls
![Pork and Fennel Sausage Rolls](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/10/21/dining/16apperex3-pork/merlin_178200114_00a4492b-5506-4e4f-b963-029f5dcb320c-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2fat garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
- 1tablespoon fennel seeds, plus more for finishing
- 3thyme sprigs, leaves separated chopped
- 1small red, yellow or white onion, diced
- ½cup diced celery
- ½cup diced carrots
- 1¼teaspoons kosher salt, plus more as needed
- 1pound lean ground pork (or chicken, turkey, or plant-based meat)
- ¼cup bread crumbs
- ½teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1(14- to 16-ounce) package frozen puff pastry, thawed but still cold
- 1egg, beaten, for egg wash
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 375 degrees and line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Step 2
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in 1 teaspoon fennel seeds and chopped thyme, and cook for another minute or until fragrant.
- Step 3
Add onion and celery and cook until onions soften, about 5 minutes. Add carrots and a large pinch of salt and cook until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool.
- Step 4
Once vegetables have cooled, add ground pork, bread crumbs, 1¼ teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Using your hands, mix thoroughly until well combined.
- Step 5
Roll the chilled puff pastry dough to about ⅛-inch thick. Cut pastry into four equal rectangles. In the center of each pastry, dollop a quarter of the pork mixture, then form it into a long sausage running lengthwise on the pastry strip. Lightly brush one long edge of the pastry with egg wash. Starting with the side without the egg wash, firmly fold the pastry over the meat filling to form long rolls, pinching to seal. Place on prepared baking sheet, seam-sides down.
- Step 6
Lightly brush the top of each roll with egg wash and sprinkle with fennel seeds. Bake until sausage rolls are golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
This calls for 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds, plus more for finishing, but only 1 teaspoon is used in Step 2. Am I reading this wrong or are the instructions in Step 2 incorrect?
I get less of a soggy bottom if I put the quarter sheet pan in the oven while it's preheating. That way the rolls go on a hot pan and the bottom starts cooking immediately. Hope this helps!
Looking forward to making these. Developed a taste for sausage rolls while living in Canada, where British things (and I would assume the Aussies inherited these from the Brits) are more common. Resumed at a great British food shop between Woodstock and Saugerties, NY. One hesitation. As much as I love the taste of fennel, I'm not sure about biting down on whole fennel seeds. I think I'll use ground fennel and skip the sprinkle on top.
Clarification, please: The recipe calls for one package of puff pastry (2 sheets) for 4 rolls. Does that mean each sheet should be cut in half? This seems awfully large, but maybe I just don’t have the appetite of an Australian schoolboy.
A pet peeve: WHICH Kosher salt? Diamond Crystal takes almost twice the volume of Morton’s Kosher salt by volume, so almost two teaspoons of DC to equal one teaspoon of Morton’s.
Solution to soggy bottom that worked for me: rack in sheet pan, topped with parchment paper that had been pricked with a knife many times. Fat went through but rolls came up clean (no sticking).
I made these last night and they were delicious. We had an outdoor social distancing event (with a fire pit - this is Wisconsin) and everyone loved them. I put them on a rack for cooking having read about the soggy, greasy bottoms and they were as advertised, i.e., soggy and greasy on the bottom and I lost some of the bottom pastry getting them off the rack. I think I'll grind my own pork next time. Store bought ground pork has too much fat. I cut the 2 pastry sheets into 1/2s for 4.
I'd like to add that this seems so versatile: we're already planning a ground lamb with cumin and red pepper version, with a tzatziki sauce on the side, as well as a ground pork with garlic, 5 spice and ginger, and mushrooms, with a reduced soy drizzle and scallion greens over top. Yum.
Lindy in Sydney, Sorry to burst your patriotic sense of pride in Aussie food, but the sausage roll can trace its ancestry back to the 18th century and were commonplace in England before Australia was being settled by Europeans. Love Australia and its wonderful food!
I've made these twice now - once because they sounded good, the second time because we wanted an encore. I used one of the two sheets in the package each time and rolled it out just a little to get a 6" x 9" rectangle. (That also helped to get rid of the creases.) Cut in four rectangles I rolled my four little sausage shapes and left the ends open. The fennel seeds on the top do get crisp and are perfect.
As soon as I saw the sprinkle on top I was thinking about what great flavor would be added by using Everything But The Bagel seasoning! The combination of sausage, pastry and bagel seasoning is my idea of heaven!
Question: is the mixture supposed to be squeezed and made firm, or is it supposed to be more like meatloaf, and mixed gently with just the fingers or a fork?
I made a roasted red pepper sauce: yogurt, mayo, salt, pepper and the peppers: pureed all and voila! Great tasty sauce!
The correct amount of Fennel seeds in step 2 is definitely 1 tablespoon. Super tasty. Will make again, maybe with half pork and half turkey. Note to myself: Ends should not be sealed.
The recipe contemplates a single sheet of puff pastry weighing one pound or a bit less.
I added a bit of sage and Worcestershire to the mix. They are delicious.
After having made this maybe 7 or 8 times, I got to hear my husband say, "This has become my favorite meal. I could eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."
Followed guidance from notes and doubled garlic and the fennel. Definitely the right move. Followed other guidance to cook them on a rack to avoid a soggy bottom. Definitely the WRONG move. The puff pastry drooped through the rack while cooking and in some cases reattached itself to the pastry on the other side of the rack! A mess I had to cut through to fix after cooking. So they weren’t nearly as attractive as I’d hoped. But they were still absolutely delicious and everyone raved. I ate two!
I make these the day before our big family brunch. Just wrap & refrigerate. Then slice into 3 or 4 pieces, turn on side & heat in oven about 10 minutes. Everyone loves them!
Very tasty, rich and filling. Did half recipe for two large rolls. Puff pastry I found was round so used half of filling for each. No changes needed except pumped oven to 400 and moved tray to top shelf for last five minutes for great browned exterior. Definitely suggest the rack and parchment method (loosen rolls with metal spatula when cooked before trying to lift .)
As an Aussie who has spent a lifetime eating sausage rolls and 30 years making them, use puff pastry pre rolled sheets - so much easier and works perfectly. For 1 pound ground meat you will need 3 sheets of puff. Don't overfill - this will decrease the chance of soggy botoms. Halve the olive oil and instead cook off two finely shopped slices of bacon, then add the garlic, fennel and thyme before continuing to step 3. We never add breadcrumbs - you dont need them and they make the mix dry.
Very good and I will make it again soon ,but with some changes,ground the pork myself instead of store bought or make it with turkey .Also use phyllo instead of puff pastry.
Very nice. Mild. Needs a bit more spice. Easy. Serve with broccoli salad. Nice lunch.
Can this be made through step 4 and then put in the refrigerator overnight to be used the next day for baking in the puff pastry for an early brunch?
For a vegetarian option, I replaced the pork with mushrooms shredded in the food processor. The result was super yummy. I liked the vegetarian version even better than the pork!
We doubled the fennel seed....and enjoyed it!
We have made these twice and loved them. However, next time I will use both sheets of puff pastry and make 8 rolls. A bit smaller.
OMG, these were heavenly. Reminds me of my childhood. Followed the recipe exactly, they turned out great, larger than I expected but I didn't mind that. Definitely will make these again. Thanks Melissa!
Is the oven time long enough to cook the sausage thoroughly?
Exceptional recipe! Read all reviews and applied. Used all the fennel ven add more next time. I did end up with too much pork mixture to fit in one sheet of pastry which I cut in two and made two long rolls. Added the leftover egg, mixed into remainding mixture and rolled into meatballs. Roasted them on a foil lined pan along with the rolls. Will grease the foil next time as they did stick. Superb! Served with onion jam that I found in a specialty food shop.
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