Oh S**t, said I, one Saturday evening as we were preparing to make sausage rolls. We forgot to get more tomato sauce. On checking the bottle in the fridge, there was not enough. We will have to run to the shops. No, said the other half. I will just go without sauce. ARE YOU CRAZY, said I. If you don’t want to go, I will just do a quick run to IGA. You can start shredding the veg then add in the mince and the egg, if you like. And so he did.
But of course IGA was out of stock, so was Coles – this was the first time I got a hint they had removed it from their range of products they stock. But they still had Beerenberg chutney so I was able to grab that. It is almost the same as the sauce, just chunkier. Luckily Nowra Fresh stocks it and they were stocking the shelves when we arrived for a bulk meat buy-up, so I now have 3 spare bottles in the cupboard plus one in the fridge and I will grab more when I next see them.
Any South Australian who has ever experienced Beerenberg tomato sauce knows that you cannot settle for a lesser sauce. I normally keep two bottles on hand and replace one when we use the first one up, but we have been enjoying a lot of pasties, sausage rolls and pies just lately. It is winter, and I made a huge batch of chicken sausage rolls a few weeks ago. We ate some, most went into the freezer, where they keep being retrieved and eaten for small lunches or dinners.
Have you ever seen how much sodium is in the shop bought sausage rolls? I have, and it is unlikely that The Other Half will ever be allowed more than a very occasional one now that he has to watch his sodium. We do have some Vili’s in the freezer for emergencies, but at 649mg of sodium when his daily goal is 1000mg.. that leaves him very little for other meals.
And the best thing about making our own – I can pack them full of vegetables. We usually put in carrot and zucchini – this time we added in leek and brussel sprouts as well. I do not use any filler at all – zero breadcrumbs – and the recipe is super simple – it is purely mincemeat of your choice, one egg per 500g of mincemeat, then the vegies. Plus an extra egg for the egg wash.
I take a sheet of puff pastry, cut it in half, lay it on my baking paper, egg wash one side and place the sausage mixture on the other side. Then I use the baking paper to roll the sausage up into the puff pastry. I hand it off to The Other Half, who cuts it up into 4. These get placed into a baking tray lined with baking paper and egg wash the top.
We even make our own chicken mincemeat these days. We just take chicken breast and put it in the food processor. Things are getting very back to basics around here! But in the case of beef mince, I usually get the 5 star from Aldi and it is excellent. We will make our own one day just to try it.
Any leftover mince meat can go into a muffin pan. Just spray the tins with cooking spray of your choice, top them with a little cheese, and they make great meatballs. If you are not feeling like the puff pastry deal these meat and vegetable muffins can be a very easy dinner. Just put everything into the food processor, spoon it into the muffin pan, top with cheese, cook for 30 minutes and dinner is served. Since we tried these muffins we have made them a few times, so easy, quick and so tasty!
If you want to make a non-meat “sausage” roll version, a mix of ricotta and feta with the vegetables would be awesome. I would add in some olives and also some spinach. Maybe mushrooms but lately I have been part cooking them first before putting them on pizza and draining them on paper towel as they seem to be full of excess moisture.
They look delicious! I need to get back to cooking more. Maybe this will help! I like the idea of cooking the meat in the muffin pan–never thought of it!
Dawn – I saw Gigi in Hawaii do a meatballs in muffin pan thing a while ago which was what gave me this idea when I had leftover meat. It will become a regular on the meal plan. :) We both loved it and it is so simple to make, no faffing about with pastry. These sausage rolls are a weekend cooking task every few weeks over winter, we freeze them, eat the freezer ones, when we run out we make another batch. We make 48 at a time. :)
I’ve never been a sausage roll person and now that pastry is off my list I don’t eat pies or pasties either. I confess to buying an inferior brand of tomato sauce, the budget just doesn’t stretch to Beerenberg very often and I don’t use sauce ON things a lot, but I do use it IN casseroles, gravies and soups, so the cheaper one is fine.
River – one day when you are a bit bored Beerenberg do have a factory outlet in Hahndorf where I think they sell the flagons of tomato sauce for what seemed like crazy low prices. The bus stops right outside as well. I have an aunt who lives in Hahndorf but it has been a long time, more than 10 years, since I got to visit the town, it was always one of my favourites.
I was never a big sausage roll person until one of the schools I went to sold a home made version with carrots and zucchini and various other vegetables hidden inside. They were so incredible, it became a thing to try and replicate that. I think I have nearly done it after many years of trying, with this recipe. :) And there is an amazing sausage roll stand at the Berry Markets where they make a spinach and ricotta one with olives and other assorted awesomeness in there. That might be the next one I try to replicate.
Mmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those look great! :) I need to try making some! Speaking of sodium, it’s INSANE if you start reading labels, the sodium overload is in everything. I’m trying so hard not to buy anything more that is pre-made at the grocery stores.
Rain – unfortunately a lot of those super high sodium foods were ones The Other Half enjoyed, so I have had to spend some time making home made versions of them without salt added. :)
It’s too bad I hate to cook. I love the artistry of processes like these.
I think that is exactly what I love about cooking, Mitchell – the artistry. :) I do not always love getting my hands into these kinds of things, which is why I use spoons to put the sausage mix onto the pastry. That is a bit of an art in itself, too! ;)