SAUSAGE ROLLS

Name: Vegan Sausage Rolls
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: English
Ingredients: 2 sheets Puff pastry (page 48; or use store-bought); 4 teaspoons olive oil 2 teaspoons soy milk sesame seeds and/; or poppy seeds, for sprinkling; tomato ketchup, to serve; 1 large onion, finely chopped; olive oil, for pan-frying; 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) mixed mushrooms, finely chopped; 1⁄2 teaspoon sea salt; large pinch of cracked black pepper; 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 11⁄2 tablespoons flaxseed (linseed) meal; 1 tablespoon vegan worcestershire sauce; 75 g (2 3⁄4 oz) rolled (porridge) oats; 90 g (3 oz) dried breadcrumbs; 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast; 3 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves; 1 1⁄2 teaspoons chopped rosemary leaves; 1 1⁄2 teaspoons chopped thyme leaves; 1⁄2 teaspoon dried oregano; 1⁄2 teaspoon liquid smoke

WITH AN EASY, PROTEIN PACKED

PLANT BASED FILLING &

CROWD-PLEASING FLAVOUR

Construction workers and children’s party attendees alike, rejoice!

Your traditional meal has finally been veganised. My sausage rolls are a consistent crowd pleaser, with mushrooms and herbs serving to bulk out your choice of ‘meat’ and give off gourmet vibes. Pick whatever mushrooms are cheap this week as they get blended up anyway.
The wash of milk and oil somehow makes them simultaneously crispy and soft, and ensures they’re just as good days later if your rolls survive long enough to become cold and old. Now, let me show you how I roll.

JUMP TO RECIPE

Sausage rolls are a quintessentially British foodstuff, which means we here in Australia have gone and nicked it for ourselves, too.

Find ‘em cut into bite sized chunks for kids parties or in the big boy lunch time edition cherished by tradies every lunch hour. It’s so comfortingly basic. Just puff pastry with no frills (although I like to make mine as seedy as I feel when I scoff these the morning after a big night).

It’s a recipe perfect for veganising as the vaguely meaty paste filling already hardly resembles any real animal reference point. So choose mushrooms with big flavour, cooked down first alongside onions to release their moisture and umami - then the rest of the filling comes together with a few breezy blitzes of the food processor. Roll them up, get them in the oven and you’ve got yourself a batch of plant based sausage rolls for cents on the dollar.

DON’T SLOW YOUR ROLL YET

You can stretch out this recipe and add more meatiness by folding up to 300 g (10 1⁄2 oz) plant-based meat (or crumbled burger patties) into the mushroom mixture. Add another sheet of puff pastry to accommodate the extra filling and you’ll get a few extra rolls for your efforts. Many plant based meat products (beyond, impossible, et al.) rely on methylcellulose which becomes active in creating firm texture when it’s heated. So if you’re using one of these, just note that this batch might go down best when still warm.

Vegan Sausage Rolls cut into the perfect portion sizes to share at your next party.

Makes 4 jumbo portions, 8 average ones or a platter of snacks if you cut them into bite sized pieces. Just divide as you please and conquer them once they’re out of the oven.

Vegan Sausage Rolls

Yield: 8

Author: Zacchary Bird

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 1 Hour

My sausage rolls are a consistent crowd pleaser, with mushrooms and herbs serving to bulk out your choice of ‘meat’ and give off gourmet vibes. Pick whatever mushrooms are cheap this week as they get blended up anyway.The wash of milk and oil on the pastry somehow makes them simultaneously crispy and soft, and ensures they’re just as good days later if your rolls survive long enough to become cold and old. Now, let me show you how I roll.

Ingredients

2 sheets Puff pastry (page 48; or use store-bought)
4 teaspoons olive oil 2 teaspoons soy milk sesame seeds and/
or poppy seeds, for sprinkling
tomato ketchup, to serve

Filling

1 large onion, finely chopped
olive oil, for pan-frying
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) mixed mushrooms, finely chopped
1⁄2 teaspoon sea salt
large pinch of cracked black pepper
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
11⁄2 tablespoons flaxseed (linseed) meal
1 tablespoon vegan worcestershire sauce
75 g (2 3⁄4 oz) rolled (porridge) oats
90 g (3 oz) dried breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
3 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
1 1⁄2 teaspoons chopped rosemary leaves
1 1⁄2 teaspoons chopped thyme leaves
1⁄2 teaspoon dried oregano
1⁄2 teaspoon liquid smoke

Instructions

Start by making the filling. In a large saucepan, cook the onion with a light- handed drizzle of olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the mushroom, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, over medium–high heat for 10–15 minutes, until the mushroom gives up its moisture and the liquid evaporates. Remove the pan from the heat and toss in the garlic to bask in the residual heat.
Combine the flaxseed meal and worcestershire sauce to form a gel egg. Transfer the mushroom mixture to a food processor, then add the gel egg and remaining filling ingredients. Blitz for 1 minute or until the texture is uniform. (If adding some plant-based meat, as per the tip at the end of the recipe, break it up and fold it through at this point.) Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
Divide the mushroom mixture into quarters (or into six portions if you’ve added some plant-based mince). Cut the pastry sheets in half and place them in front of you. Evenly spoon a thick strip of filling along the long edge of each pastry sheet. Smooth the filling out, then fold the pastry sheets over to enclose the filling, using a teaspoon to press down and seal the edges. Press the sausage rolls down on this crease to seal them shut. Cut them in half and stuff any filling that’s fallen out back into the open ends. Use a sharp knife to make slits along the side of the pastry, to let the steam escape in the oven, alternating on each side.
Whisk the olive oil and soy milk together in a small bowl and brush over the top of each sausage roll. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and/or poppy seeds. Cut the rolls in half or thirds for individual serves, or quarters for party snacks.
Bake for 25–35 minutes, then scoff warm with tomato ketchup as they leave the oven. Any that survive the first wave can be reheated in an air fryer or a hot oven for 5–10 minutes.
The rolls will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.