Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

Confession. I love to secretly serve these vegetarian sausage rolls to meat lovers.  And, I never tell the carnivore that they are vegetarian until after they have declared they are the best tasting sausage roll they’ve ever eaten! 

You can make this recipe as traditional sausage rolls or if you want a creative variation see my notes on how to make this a SUNNY sausage roll. Your kids will think you are a masterchef.

Give this recipe a try, and don’t tell the family your secret until after they’ve eaten… trust me!

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, peeled and halved

• 2 tbsp mixed herbs of choice

• 100 g walnuts

• 95 g organic rolled oats

• 3 eggs

• 150 g feta cheese

• 1 tbsp Tamari sauce

• 45 g breadcrumbs

• 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  Line a large baking tray with baking paper.

Place the onion and herbs in a food processor and blitz for approximately 5 seconds. 

Add the walnuts and rolled oats and process for a further 10 seconds.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 

Add the remaining ingredients and process for another 30 seconds or so.  Your sausage roll mix is now done.

Slice your puff pastry in half so that you have 4 rectangles.

Divide your mixture between the puff pastry and roll into sausage logs.

Brush the pastry with a little bit of milk for a shiny finish (optional) and bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

A note from Gracious Goodness:

If you don’t have tamari you can substitute with Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce or even a heaped teaspoon of Vegemite.

You can absolutely hide some veggies in these sausage rolls – think grated carrot, zucchini, sweet potato… don’t go for anything too strong tasting otherwise it might overpower your sausage roll flavour.  If you add veggies that contain a lot of water, like zucchini, either grate then squeeze out excess liquid or add a bit extra of the bread crumbs.

To make your sausage rolls SUNNY :

You will need 3 sheets of puff pastry or homemade dough. In the photos below I have used a pizza dough recipe that is easy to make in the thermomix. Recipe at the end.

If using puff pastry : Take 2 sheet of the puff pastry and lay one on on the prepared baking tray.  Slice another piece of puff pastry into 4 slices.  Add 1 slice to 2 sides of the other pieces of puff pastry, overlapping the edges about 3 cm.  Roll the joins with a rolling pin to make sure they are well glued together.  This will give you 2 larger pieces of puff pastry and ample space to make your sun.

If using your own dough, divide the mixture in half. Roll both halves out so you have 2 sheets approximately 40 cm square.

Take 1/4 of the sausage mix and make a mound in the centre of the pastry sheet. 

Take the remaining sausage mix and make a circular snake around this centre mound leaving enough room for the pastry to meet between them.  Place the second sheet of pastry over the top of the sausage mix and gently press down around the centre mound.  Then press the edges together around the sausage snake.  Trim the pastry edges into a circle leaving about 3 cm border.

Make slices in the pastry around the centre mound and twist each slice on to its side taking care not to break the pastry in the centre. 

Continue until the full circle has been sliced and twisted and your Sunny Sausage Roll looks like the pictures below.  Brush the pastry with a little egg wash or milk to get a nice glossy finish.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is browned and crispy.

Looks fantastic presented on a large plate at shared meals or just on the bench for the family to help themselves.  The centre mound slices beautifully and makes delicious sandwiches the next day if not devoured in the first sitting.  Serve with some tasty relish or homemade tomato sauce.  A nice leafy salad turns this into a complete meal.

Don’t forget to put your pastry on some baking paper BEFORE you put the filling on.  It will be too soft to move it once it is filled and potentially too fragile to move it by hand once it is cooked.  You really need to just slide it off the tray and on to a serving plate.

If you would like to use a pizza dough, this is the one that I find really easy. Ingredients:

360g lukewarm water 1.5 tsp sugar (optional) 2 tsp dried instant yeast 600g white bakers flour 2 tsp mixed herbs, dried garlic (optional) 2 tsp salt 1 tbs oil Method:

Add all ingredients to your thermo bowl in order listed. Combine 15 seconds, speed 3. 

Knead 6 minutes dough function. 

Turn dough out onto a thermomat or oiled/floured bench & divide dough into two pieces.  Roll out pastry to desired shape.  Use immediately.  No need to wait for it to rise. Follow sunny sausage roll instructions as above.

Sausage rolls don’t need to boring… they also don’t need to be meaty!!  If you don't have the time or inclination to get creative and make your sasuage rolls SUNNY then give the quick and easy version of puff pastry rolls a try.  There’s nothing better than getting people to guess the secret ingredient and no one guessing that it is vegetarian. 

Try it out for your next meatless-Monday and tell me what you think! 

Sandra xo