Cocktail Sausage Rolls

Method

• Pastry: Sift flour and salt together. Rub in butter with fingertips until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Add soda water and cut in with a knife. Knead lightly to a soft pastry. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• Filling: Heat oil and fry mince until colour changes. Add onion and sauté slightly.
• Add soaked bread, spices, Spur Hickory Basting and herbs. Simmer for a few minutes and set aside to cool completely.
• Roll out pastry onto a lightly floured surface to about 3 mm thick and into a rectangular shape, about 10 cm wide.
• Place meat in a line, down the middle. Fold one side of pastry over meat.
• Brush edge with water and cover with other side of pastry. Brush with beaten egg and milk. (If the rolls are too soft to cut, place in freezer for a few minutes)
• Cut into sections of about 4 cm and place on a greased baking tray.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 200 *C for 15 – 20 minutes or until pastry turns golden brown.

VARIATIONS

• Substitute the soda water pastry with 400 g readymade, frozen puff pastry or shortcrust.
• For ´half-moon´ pastries; Roll out pastry onto a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 3 mm.
• Cut pastry out into rounds with a cutter of about 11 cm in diameter or use a saucer as a guide.
• Place some of the filling mixture on one side of each pastry round.
• Brush edges of pastry round with water and turn other half over filling, making a ´half-moon´.
• Seal the edges with a little water and press down with a fork.
• Make two small slits on top of pastry with a sharp knife, for the steam to escape.
• Substitute the mince filling by using boerewors or any other sausages, such as cheese grillers. Cut pastry into strips and roll around sausages.
• The inside meat of boerewors can also be taken from casing and used to replace the mince.

TIPS

• The sausage rolls can be cooked in an air-fryer for about 10 minutes.
• Sprinkle sesame or poppy seeds over egg wash before baking.