B85 Beef Sausage Rolls - with jalapeño and cheese

• servings: 4 servings
• active time: 20 minutes
• total time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 small onion (, peeled, whole)

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (Note 1)

500g/1 lb beef mince (ground beef), fattier the better)

1 egg

2 garlic cloves (, minced with garlic press or finely grated)

1 beef stock cube (, crumbled, OXO is my favourite or 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt)

1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, +25% for flakes)

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/3 cup pickled jalapeno (, roughly chopped (~3mm) (Note 2)

1 1/2 cups (150g) cheddar (, shredded, or other cheese of choice, Note 3, pre-shredded ok)

1/2 cup (50g) parmesan (, shredded using box grater (pre-shredded ok)

2 sheets frozen puff pastry (, butter is better (24cm / 9.5" squares) (Note 4)

1 egg (, separated)

Sprinkling:

1 tsp white sesame seeds

1/2 tsp black sesame seeds (or more white)

Serving:

Aussie tomato sauce or ketchup

Directions

Abbreviated recipe:

Toss grated onion and panko, then mix everything else except cheeses. Then mix in cheese. Divide in 2, wrap in pastry, seal with egg white. 3 slits, brush with yolk, sprinkle with sesame. 35 minutes at 200°C/425°F (180C fan) then 15 minutes on a rack.

Full recipe:

Preheat oven 200°C/425°F (180C fan-forced).

Onion soak - Grate the onion in a bowl using a box grater, reserving all the onion juices. Add panko breadcrumbs and toss to wet.

Everything else but cheese - Then add beef, egg, garlic, stock cube, salt, pepper and jalapeño. Mix well with hands to combine.

"Crumble" in cheese - Add cheeses, then use fingers to firstly “crumble” the cheese through the beef before mixing well with hands (this method prevents cheese from clumping together).

Roll - Barely thaw puff pastry (stiffer = easier to handle). Divide meat into 2 equal logs. Roll up in the puff pastry, then overlap the base with double layer, sewing with egg white. Finish with the seam side down and trim off surplus puff pastry (about 2 cm/0.8").

Finish sausage rolls - Cut each log in half. Cut 3 diagonal slashes on the top of each sausage roll. Brush with egg yolk, sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake - Place the sausage rolls on a paper lined tray. Bake for 35 minutes, then transfer onto rack (to elevate out of fat, Note 5). Bake a further 15 minutes until pastry is deep golden and underside is crispy.

Cool on rack 5 minutes before attacking! Serve with Aussie tomato sauce or ketchup.

Notes

Panko breadcrumbs – Japanese breadcrumb makes the filling softer because the crumbs are larger. Staple at supermarkets in Australia these days, usually the Asian section (cheaper at Asian stores). Regular breadcrumbs work too but the filling will not be as soft.

2. Pickled jalapeno – Find them in the pickle section, they are relatively good value ($3 for a decent size jar). Use leftovers to make your tacos more interesting, use in sandwiches!

3. Cheese options – Anything shreddable that melts will be great here, except mozzarella (too mild, not salty enough) or hard cheeses like parmesan/pecorino (too salty). Cheddar is used at the bakery.

4. Puff pastry – Butter puff pastry is better (tastier, puffs better) than non-butter puff (ie puff made from oil)

5. Rack elevating – The juicy filling releases a lot of liquid, making the base soggy. The best fix I found is to elevate the rolls on a rack towards the end of baking. Note: The base will never be shatteringly crispy because the filling is so juicy, but it won’t be soggy.

6. Regular and party size sausage rolls – Make 4 logs by cutting 2 sheets of puff pastry in half. Cut each into 4 (party sausage rolls) or 2 (regular size), place on 2 trays. Bake 30 minutes on the tray then 10 minutes on a rack (same oven temp).

Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days though the pastry will lose crispiness. Best way to reheat is in the oven at 180C/350F (160C fan) for around 12 – 15 minutes.

Freezing – Once wrapped in pastry they can be frozen. Thaw then bake per recipe. Best not to brush with yolk until just before cooking (it gets sweaty when it thaws).

Nutrition

• Calories: 942 kcal
• Total Fat: 68 g
• Saturated Fat: 25 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 36 g
• Trans Fat: 1 g
• Cholesterol: 216 mg
• Sodium: 1610 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 53 g
• Dietary Fiber: 3 g
• Total Sugars: 3 g
• Protein: 50 g