Sausage Rolls

Step by step below for an Easy Elevenses recipe. Ready made roll-out pastry is perfectly fine for these! My usual go-to's are:

*Honey & Mustard

*Cheese & Marmite

*Tomato & Chilli Chutney

*Venison & Sloe Gin

The basis of making sausage rolls is the same for each recipe, but just the ingredients that change

Pre-Rolled puff pastry is fine for these, just get it out of the fridge to warm to room temperature, as this makes it easier to roll out.

When you start prepping, pre-heat your oven to around 180 degrees (fan)

Now we’re getting to the good stuff…. After being luck enough to shoot in Devon on various occasions over the last couple of years, mainly via Loyton Sporting, they impressed us with their elevenses as well as the game meat used within them. We then decided to introduce elevenses to our shoot, giving the birds a break between the 2nd and 3rd drive, give the dogs a rest, enjoy a drink, snacks and for us to catch up, chat and put more enjoyment into our day. Fortunately, the elevenses went down a hoot, unfortunately, I’ve now given myself the job of prepping, cooking and feeding the guns, beaters and pickers up each week, so that’s my Friday nights gone during the season. To see them enjoying the hard work and eating the birds they’ve all shot and dogs retrieved, makes it all worth it.

Now, to confirm I am no chef, the recipes I have found online, tweaked and generally there’s no real measurement to the ingredients. Just go with what you feel, if you don’t like something, swap it out and remember its all about trial and error. When I first started the cheese and marmite sausage rolls, I used hardly any marmite. I’ve now at least tripled the amount of marmite and they could probably still do with a little more 😊

STEP ONE:

Mince your pheasant/meat and add the sausage meat at the same time, so it all minces and mixes together. I usually freeze it like this so it is ready prepped ready to go.

I usually go for 60:40 or a 50:50 mix pheasant:sausage meat as I prefer a less gamey taste, but you can mix however you prefer the taste to be.

STEP TWO:

The meat is placed into a mixing bowl and any flavourings or ingredients added.

For cheese & marmite, I had a good couple of tablespoons of marmite and a handful of grated cheese.

For honey & mustard recipe you just add a couple of teaspoons to the mix

STEP THREE:

For the recipes including sloe gin jam and tomato and chilli chutney, I spread this onto the pastry, to ensure the flavour does not get lost within the mix

STEP FOUR:

Roll out your pastry and cut in the middle lengthwise.

Spoon out your mixture onto the top half of the strip but leave a small gap at the top and at least an inch at the bottom.

Egg wash the bottom of the pastry (about an inch up, all the way along the pastry)

STEP FIVE:

Fold over the pastry from the top, over the meat and press all the way along the pastry with a fork to seal this onto the egg wash

STEP SIX:

Slice the roll into whatever size rolls you require, I usually do 2" wide roughly as they are just for elevenses on the shoot.

You'll also need to slice 2 or 3 marks in the top, this will allow any steam to escape while cooking.

Then egg wash

STEP SEVEN:

If making cheese and marmite, this is when I usually add a drizzle of marmite and a few pieces of grated cheese onto each one

STEP EIGHT:

Cooking time depends how many trays you are cooking, but they should turn a lovely golden brown colour, roughly 15-18 minutes.

If cooking more than 1 tray, then ensure you rotate the trays during cooking for an even bake.