Alyn Williams’ gives sausage rolls a festive makeover with this recipe for a tasty Christmas snack or a casual starter. The filling is made with leftover turkey meat, stuffing and cranberry sauce, then wrapped in the traditional casing of flaky puff pastry.

Turkey and stuffing sausage rolls

Turkey and stuffing sausage rolls (source: greatbritishchefs.com)

 

COOKING TIME: 1 hour & 5 minutes

INGREDIENTS

SAUSAGE ROLL FILLING

  • 400g of leftover turkey meat
  • 75g of onion, sliced
  • 75g of button mushrooms, sliced
  • 400g of sage and onion stuffing mix, or leftover stuffing
  • 75g of cranberry sauce, liquid strained off
  • 50ml of half fat crème fraîche
  • 1/2 tsp mild curry powder
  • 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 15g of unsalted butter
  • 1 pinch of salt

PUFF PASTRY

  • 500g of puff pastry
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 50ml of water, cold
  • 1 tbsp of flour, for rolling

Method

1. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the onion and mushrooms until soft, remove from the pan and drain on kitchen towel. Leave to cool.
  • 15g of unsalted butter
  • 75g of onion, sliced
  • 75g of button mushrooms, sliced
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry into two 16cm wide x 40cm long rectangles, approximately 5mm thick. Cut the pastry lengthways down the middle and place onto a non-stick baking sheet. Leave to rest in the fridge.
  • 500g of puff pastry
  • 1 tbsp of flour, for rolling
3. If you are using ready-made stuffing, prepare the mix as per packet instructions (up until the cooking stage), otherwise take your leftover stuffing out of the fridge. Dice the turkey into 1cm cubes
  • 400g of sage and onion stuffing mix
  • 400g of leftover turkey meat
4. Add the filling ingredients to a bowl (including the turkey and stuffing) and mix until combined.
  • 75g of cranberry sauce, liquid strained off
  • 50ml of half fat crème fraîche
  • 1/2 tsp mild curry powder
  • 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 pinch of salt
5. Spoon the filling into a piping bag. Remove the pastry from the fridge and carefully pipe a thick, neat line of the filling down the length of the pastry towards the edge, leaving a 1.5cm wide gap between the edge of the pastry and the filling. If you don’t have a piping bag, gently place spoonfuls of the mix with a teaspoon
6. Mix the egg yolks and water in a bowl. Lightly brush the 1.5cm strip of pastry closest to the filling with egg wash
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 50ml of water, cold
7. Fold the rest of the pastry (the portion that has not been brushed with egg wash) tightly over the filling and press down well along the egg-washed strip to seal. Any excess pastry will be trimmed off later.
8. Repeat this process with the second sheet of pastry and place both sheets in the fridge for 10 minutes to firm up.
9. Once the pastry is firm, trim off any excess along the join and then use a fork to press down the join and crimp. Repeat for the second sheet.
10. Brush all of the pastry with more egg wash and return to the fridge for 10 minutes. Remove from the fridge and apply a second coating of egg wash.
11. Preheat the oven to 180˚C/gas mark 5.
12. Using a sharp knife, cut each of the long rolls into 8 x 5cm mini rolls, return to the non-stick baking tray.
13. Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a deep golden brown colour.
14. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes before serving.