Pork and Fennel Sausage Rolls

Pork and Fennel Sausage Rolls are super delicious and also easy to make! Combining pork sausages, pork mince and dried fennel, we whip it up and encase it in buttery puff pastry. Better than your favourite bakery sausage rolls they are delicious homemade sausage rolls. With a little apple sauce these pork fennel sausage rolls are juicy on the inside with an exterior flaky coating!

Recipes like my Cheeseburger Sausage Rolls, Chicken Sausage Rolls, Beef Mince Sausage Rolls and Mini Sausage Rolls are all about puff pastry savory delights!

My Peanut Butter Pinwheels, Nutella Puff Pastry and Pecan Pinwheels give us sweet pastry combos to die for.

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised a few of the reasons why I think you will enjoy making this recipe (over and over again!):

• Flavour combination of ingredients: these sausage rolls are jam packed with flavour. The filling is a combination created to tantalise the taste buds and bring a sense of yum to each bite!
• Sunday Family Food: these smell amazing, taste amazing and bring a comfort to the home that the bakery cannot. They really are the perfect quick snack.
• Freezer Friendly: Simply bake, allow to cool and then place in an air tight container.
• No pre cooking: the filling gets added to the pastry raw and then gets cooked in the oven.
• Kid Friendly: sausage rolls are loved by big and little kids alike. You can even hide vegetables in them if you are trying to get them to eat more veggies!
• Better than Bourke Street Bakery: oven baked, homemade, juicy and delicious. These will rival any local baker's sausage rolls!

Top Tip 1: Get organised for unexpected guests dropping in, by making these in advance and freezing. As needed, grab from the freezer and reheat!

🥗 Ingredients

Everything you need is shown in the photo below. Please refer to the printable recipe card for exact measurements and more detailed instructions.

• Salt/pepper: we use a salt and a little bit of black pepper to season the sausage roll filling.
• Egg: this ingredient has multiple uses. We use it to seal the pastry, enable the pastry to turn golden brown and it helps stick the poppy seeds on top.
• Poppy Seeds: these are to decorate the top of the sausage rolls. You can also use sesame seeds or dried herbs.
• Dried Onion Flakes: this will be found in the herbs and spices section of the supermarket. I love using it as it brings the flavour, but you save time and tears.
• Dried Fennel Seeds: this are the secret ingredient for these sausage rolls. They add a delightfully unique taste from the fennel seeds. Combined with the pork, it is a winning combination.
• Apple Sauce: this ingredient is to add both apple flavour as well as to ensure the sausage rolls have a juicy, not dry filling.
• Pork mince (ground pork): readily available in the butcher's section of the supermarket. It works well in stir fry's, rissoles and spaghetti recipes.
• Pork sausages: my preference for these is plain pork sausages. We are adding our own seasoning, so the most basic standard sausages will do the trick.
• Puff Pastry: one of the most handy ingredients you can have in your freezer. Simple to use, budget friendly and works for both sweet and savory options.

Top Tip 2: The dried onion can be used in any recipe where you want the flavour of real onion, but minimal effort (chopping and crying) involved.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. Grab the puff pastry out of the freezer to start with so it can thaw as you prepare the sausage filling.

• Remove casing from sausages and discard (Photo 1)
• Add sausage roll filling ingredients to food processor (Photo 2)
• Blitz till combined mince mixture (Photo 3)
• Transfer sausage filling into zip lock bag (Photo 4)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Pork and Fennel Sausage Rolls

Start by remove the casing and discarding these as we want the raw pork sausage meat.

It doesn't matter which order you add the ingredients to the food processor, but we don't add the egg or poppy seeds. (They get added to the top before we bake the sausage rolls).

It will only take seconds to bring together the filling mixture. We want it to be consistently combined. You an transfer it to a large mixing bowl to make it easier or simply use the food processor bowl.

Next place the meat mixture into the thawed pastry in a long sausage shape.

Top Tip 3: For consistent width sausage rolls and to be less hands on meat, transfer the sausage roll filling into zip lock bag. Pipe the filling onto the pastry. Don't push too hard as the meat might burst out a and make another hole.

• Sausage filling onto pastry (Photo 5)
• Roll pastry around sausage filling (Photo 6)
• Seal pastry with egg (Photo 7)
• Cut the filled sausage roll from the pastry sheet (Photo 8)

When you seal the sausage roll, add a little extra pastry for the base. So we are no sealing at the intersection, rather at the over lap. (This crunchy bit of pastry is the best!!).

Pull the plastic backing sheet away from the pastry sheet as you roll.

Use a pastry brush for the over lapping parts of the puff pastry.

Run the knife along the long edge of the pastry sheet to remove the full length sausage roll.

Top Top 4: If you roll the pastry rather tightly you will find that the sausage rolls are neater. Not so tight that the filling squeezes out!

• Cut long roll into individual pieces (Photo 9)
• Brush each sausage roll with egg wash (Photo 10)
• Sprinkle poppy seeds over the top of each roll (Photo 11)
• Bake for 25 to 30 mins (Photo 12)

🍜 Pork Apple and Fennel Sausage Rolls

I make 4 sausage rolls from each 1 sheet of pastry. You can cut them into smaller portions and make 5 or 6 if you prefer. (See my Cocktail Sausage Rolls for an example).

The beaten egg helps both to ensure that the pastry will turn a deep golden brown as well as enabling the seeds to stick to the top.

When placing the sausage rolls into the oven, use a large baking tray and the middle rack. They will take 25-30 minutes to cook.

Top Tip 5: Once they look done, turn the oven off and allow them to start to cool. After 5 minutes or so, use an oven mit to remove tray and transfer individual portions to baking rack.

The pastry will crisp up and become flaky as it cools.

To transfer the sausage rolls onto the wire rack, use a flat silicon turner. This is easier than tongs, as the base will stay attached.

If you make a wide variety of sausage rolls and freeze them, the topping be it seeds or dried herbs is a great way to quickly check the filling from the outside.

The sauce you can see in the photo above and throughout the post is BBQ.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

Sausage rolls are perfect to serve on their own or with plenty of tomato sauce, bbq sauce or plum sauce.

If wanting to bulk them up into a meal, choose a garden salad, Air Fryer Chips or Air Fryer Party Pies.

Similar party food that works well with these is my Cheese and Bacon Pinwheels or Ham Cream Cheese Roll Ups.

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Once the sausage rolls are cooked, allow them to cool, then store them in an air tight container.

They will last 3 days like this.

How to Freeze

To freeze the sausage rolls, allow to cool and transfer to a sealed, air tight container.

They can be frozen for up to 3 months.

How to Reheat

To reheat the sausage rolls, cook them from frozen. There is no need to thaw.

If reheating cooked, unfrozen sausage rolls, simply place in the oven or air fryer.

Reheating sausage rolls in the oven will take 15 to 20 mins. Reheating sausage rolls in the air fryer will take 10 to 15 minutes.

😉 Substitutions and Variations

There are a couple of ways to switch this up a little to your preferences, try any or each of the following:

• Use sesame seeds instead of poppy seeds on top.
• Alternatively you can use dried thyme leaves.
• Add some fresh breadcrumbs (¼ cup) to the filling if you wish too.
• Serve the sausage rolls with a combination of tomato and BBQ sauce.
• Allow some apple sauce on the side for dipping and dunking!
• Or tomato chutney for afternoon teas if you prefer.
• Make the sausage rolls longer or shorter to increase or decrease portion size.
• Use 1 large grated apple instead of the apple sauce.
• Add some grated carrot to the mixture.

Top Tip 6: There is no harm in hiding veggies in the mix if you want to do that. Zucchini and carrot are great options!

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my tried and tested top tips and tricks for you to succeed with the recipe:

• Grab the pastry out to start, we need it to be thawed.
• Use plain pork sausages as we add our own seasonings.
• Ensure that you are using a preheated oven so that the sausage rolls will start to cook as soon as they are placed inside.
• Use a silicon baking mat over parchment/baking paper/alfoil.
• The zip lock bag helps consistency, but you can also spoon the filling on and use your finger tips to form a long sausage.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions

Does pork sausage have fennel?

Regular pork sausages don't have fennel.

Gourmet sausages come in wide variety of flavours, some of which do include fennel.

Check the packet which will list both the flavour and ingredients.

What is a sausage roll called in America?

Pigs in a blanket are the nearest things to Australian Sausage rolls in America.

Both are terms used to describe pastry (most often puff) wrapped around a sausage.

What are Australian sausage rolls made of?

Australia sausage rolls are often made from pork, pork mince, sausages, sausage meat, bacon, cheese, herbs and spices.

The 2 key ingredients are meat and pastry.

How do you keep sausage rolls from getting soggy on the bottom?

Silicon baking mats are a better option than parchment paper or baking paper. The firm mat will ensure that the base of the sausage rolls will not go soggy.

Do you put egg in sausage roll mixture?

This recipe uses a beaten egg to seal the pastry as well as brush the top of the pastry.

Brushing the pastry with the egg will ensure the top of the sausage rolls turns a lovely golden brown.

What does fennel taste like?

Fennel has a licorice like flavour about it.

It is quite unique and unmistakeable.

The seeds seem firm when dry, but blend in with the pork when cooked.

Can you prepare sausage rolls in advance?

Yes, you can make sausage rolls in advance.

Either prepare them and cook or freeze to cook at a later date.

What goes well with sausage rolls?

Sauce is the perfect accompaniment to serve the sausage rolls.

Choose either BBQ, tomato, apple sauce or relish.

What meat goes well with fennel?

Pork mince or ground pork is a great pairing with fennel.

It is often also used in pasta, beef or cooking with lamb.

What pastry is Sausage rolls made from?

Puff Pastry is the encasing that most sausage rolls are made from.

Some recipes will also use phyllo pastry.

😍More Easy Party Food Recipes

Is is the pastry or party food that drew you to this recipe? Here are a few more of each that you might like to try:

• Cheese and Tomato Pinwheels
• Easy Sausage Rolls
• Chorizo Sausage Rolls
• Easy Sausage Rolls
• Pork Mince Pasta
• Air Fryer Frozen Samosa
• Slow Cooker Cheese And Bacon Bread
• Golden Syrup Cornflake Cakes
• Coco Pop Crackles
• Christmas Sausage Rolls

The aroma when these are baking is second to none! Get your savory bake on my friends!

Adrianne

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