Pork & Fennel Sausage Rolls

Ingredients
  • 1 packet pork and fennel sausages, casings removed
  • 2 large cloves of garlic chopped finely
  • 1 tsp thyme leaves
  • 2 tsp heaped fennel seeds dry roasted and ground to a powder (about 2 tsp of ground fennel)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ cup bread crumbs
  • 2 tbsp butter melted
  • 1 tsps pepper
  • Generous pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 2 sheets of frozen puff pastry
  • TO FINISH
  • 1 egg – for egg wash
  • Sea salt flakes
  • Sesame seeds black or white / poppy seeds
Method
  • Step1 Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
  • Step2 In a bowl, place the ground pork sausage, breadcrumbs and pour the melted butter over the bread crumbs, chopped garlic, thyme leaves, ground fennel, salt pepper and cayenne pepper. Mix with your hands or a spoon, until everything is mixed through well. Divide the mix into four portions.
  • Step3 Lightly flour your workspace with some flour. Place one puff pastry sheet on your bench and cut it in half, so you have two rectangles. Take a single portion of the sausage filling and while leaving a 1 cm margin, place the filling along one long edge of the puff pastry rectangle, evenly. Brush both long edges with some egg wash, and carefully roll up the pastry sheet with the sausage filling, until the ends overlap by about 1 cm. Gently pinch the two ends together to create a seal. Place the seam side down, and cut this roll into 4 equal parts (with a back and forth motion using a serrated knife so that you cut evenly and smoothly). Place the 4 sausage rolls on the baking tray, slightly apart.
  • Step4 Repeat with the remaining puff pastry sheet to make 16 sausage rolls in total.
  • Step5 Using a small sharp knife, make two slits on the top of each sausage roll. Brush the tops generously with egg wash (highly recommended) and sprinkle some salt and poppy seeds (optional).
  • Step6 Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, and then increase the heat to 190°C and bake for a further 30 minutes or until they are golden brown.
  • Step7 Take out of the oven, allow them to rest for a few minutes, and serve while warm.