The king of every buffet, in my opinion, is the sausage roll. It really is a party when the sausage roll is invited. This is way to truly celebrate this prince of the party my Sausage Roll Wreath. Simple to make and so scrumptious, make this festive season special and treat yourself to this.
To make this extra simple I use ready rolled puff pastry sheets. Really is so easy takes away any stress of making puff pastry. Which is of course perfectly possible however the festive season can be busy enough without that added pressure. I am happy to use shop bought pastry every time. In fact I encourage people to use it.
To create the filling I use pork sausage meat and add plenty of flavour. The flavours for this festive wreath are Nutmeg, Fresh Parsley & Sage as well as Dreied Apricots and of course Salt and Pepper. The key to a tasty sausage roll is to make sure every bite has all of the flavours. So make sure that every ingredient is cut small enough. The fresh herbs want to be very finely minced, I use a mezzaluna to easily get the herbs chopped.
There are two components to a sausage roll the filling and the pastry. The pastry is what invites you to taste the filling so should look inviting. Now let’s be honest, it’s not hard to make puff pastry look inviting however I do think it needs to be brushed with egg wash, which is just a beaten egg. The importance of the egg cannot be understated. Without the beaten egg brushed over you will not get that inviting golden brown. You will end up with a pale, softer roll that is not as visually appealing. However it will still taste good but an egg wash takes it to the next level.
Cooking for Christmas is one of my favourite things and I love creating new things. Some of which become traditions and others happy memories. This Sausage Roll Wreath is one I’ll be making again and again. If you are keen to try some other festive favourites of mine take a look at:
Brown Sugar Shortbread
Christmas Meringue Wreath
Mince Pie Baklava
Cranberry & Orange Scones
I hope you love this Sausage Roll Wreath as much as I do. If you try it let me know what you think in the comments below. Share your photos with me on social media and use the #CUBBintheKitchen to be featured in my stories.
Happy Eating!
Sausage Roll Wreath
Ingredients
- 2 Sheets Ready Roll Puff Pastry
- 450 grams Sausage Meat
- 1 bunch Flat Leaf Parsley (2 tbsp finely chopped)
- 1 bunch Sage Leaves (2 tbsp finely chopped plus small leaves to decorate)
- 100 grams Dried Apricots (About 15)
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 0.5 tsp Nutmeg
- 1 Egg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC.Take the Puff Pastry Sheets out of the fridge to come to temperature.
- Take the small leaves from the Sage and set aside, you want 12.Finely chop the remaining Sage leaves and a bunch of Flat Leaf Parsley, you want 2 tbsp of each.Next finely chop the Apricots.Mix all of the chopped Sage and Parsley, Apricots with the Sausage Meat, Salt, Pepper and Nutmeg.Once fully combined divide the mixutre in half and set aside.
- In a small bowl, cup or ramekin beat the Egg, this will be the glue as well as the egg wash.Unroll the Puff Pastry and lay it so the short side is closest to you.Take half of the Sausage filling and lay in a line along the long side, leaving a gap about 2 inches.Brush some beaten Egg along the side of the filling, on the larger side of pastry, and fold the smaller side over the filling.Brush another line of egg next to the previous one and roll onto this to creat a good seal.With a knife cut the excess pastry and use this to decorate, I like to cut stars out of it to place on top of the wreath, holly shapes look lovely too.make sure the seal is good and you are happy with the roundness and lay it on a lined baking tray seal side down.
- Trim the ends so they are nice and neat. (Bake these end bits as a cooks treat!)With a sharp knife or a good pair of scissors make cut at the half way point of the Sausage Roll. Do not cut All the way through just ¾ of the way.Next repeat this cut at the half way points between the middle and the end. So you should have 4 sections that are still connected along one side.Each section make two more cuts to create three mini sausage rolls that are still connected.
- Take the ends and shape into a wreath with the cuts on the outside. Use the beaten Egg to glue the ends together then brush beathen egg all over the Pastry Wreath.Lay the small sage leaves over alternate rolls and pastry shapes on the others. a little more egg on the patsry shapes to ensure browning.If you are making two wraeths make the second now. You can make and freeze the second before baking.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until gloriously burnished.
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