Sausage Rolls

I have always loved sausage rolls and they used to be a real treat growing up.  You could always find them at any deli and in the frozen appetizer section of the grocery.  The last few I've had at delis have been disappointing, with soggy, oily pastry or sausage that has way too much filler in it.  I couldn't find any frozen ones for New Years appetizer night so resorted to trying to make them at home. This particular recipe uses a crust that is more pie-like rather than the texture you get with puff pastry.  Most recipes online use frozen puff pastry, but a few use "shortcrust" which is basically pie crust and there was quite a bit of variation in the shortcrust recipes.   I used a combination of butter and Crisco. Butter adds flavour and makes the crust crisp and the Crisco adds softness.  

Sausage filling: Below are two options for the sausage filling- one using premade sausage meat with a few additions and one totally from scratch:

Sausage filling #1 :

1 lb sausage meat (the Maple Leaf brand pictured below contains wheat crumbs so I chose not to add any more. If I was making it from scratch I would add some breadcrumbs to have a smoother texture). Sautee the onion until soft.  Add the sautéed onion,  thyme and pepper to the sausage meat. 

1/2 cup finely diced onion

1 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp black pepper

Sausage filling #2

1 lb ground pork (or 1 lb of a pork and beef mixture)

1 tsp salt

1 egg

1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup finely diced onion

1/4 tsp black pepper

3 finely chopped sage leaves

1/2 to 1 tsp dried thyme

Saute the onion until soft and add to the rest of the ingredients

Pastry:

1 3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup butter and 1/3 cup Crisco (or vice versa!)

1/4 tsp salt 

4 tbsp ice cold water

Combine the flour and salt. Add the butter and Crisco and break it up with a pastry cutter until it's in coarse bits. Some people grate it in frozen, use a food processor , two knives or their fingers. I used my fingers!   Add the cold water one tbsp at a time until the dough is wet enough to form into a ball.  Add more water if it seems to dry.  Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 mins.  

Assembling the roll:

Roll the dough into a rectangle ~10 x 16 inches.  Cut the sheet in half lengthwise.  Spread half the sausage mixture in a "log" on each half all the way to the ends.  Roll carefully and dab some water along the edge to seal.  Cut each roll into 8 pieces.  Cut two shallow slashes on top of each piece and brush with beaten egg.  Bake in a preheated oven at 400F for about 20 minutes.