You guys all know that I love baking a sweet treat or two, but I bet you didn’t guess that I was going to make something savoury as part of my Christmas bakes! Now, I don’t know if this is just a Northern thing, but sausage rolls are practically a staple up here and I realised a few months back that I’d never made any in my entire life. I don’t know why because my mum makes them quite regularly and says they’re pretty easy to do, I just think I thought I wouldn’t be very good at it. But when I was planning my Christmas bakes, it dawned on me that I’d never seen a Christmas-themed sausage roll, and so these babies were born.
You might be wondering what exactly makes these sausage rolls Christmassy. Well, what is the one thing that seems to go hand-in-hand with all things Christmas? Cranberry sauce. I gave each one of these sausage rolls a generous smothering of the stuff on the inside before baking them, giving them a little bit of sweetness in every bite. I also chopped up a load of Brie (a.k.a. the cheese of Christmas) and layered that on top of the meat, so you have gooey, cheesy goodness hidden under the pastry.
Originally, I had planned on using turkey mince because it’s not Christmas without a turkey, but I find turkey meat to be a little bit bland. I wanted something punchy and delicious for this recipe, and turkey wasn’t really going to cut it, so I went with pork sausage meat. I know what you’re thinking, ‘pork isn’t punchy,’ but I threw in some extras to give it some depth. I added a little bit mixed herbs and salt to up the savoury flavour and contrast against the sweet cranberry, but I also added in orange zest. These are Christmas sausage rolls after all! I didn’t add in so much orange that it was overwhelming, but just to add a hint of flavour to complement the overall flavour. If you wanted to use turkey mince for this recipe, you absolutely could, but I’d recommend adding a chicken stock cube in, just to deepen the flavour a little.
8
servings30
minutes25
minutesDelicious Christmas sausage rolls that would be ideal for a festive snack in the lead up to the big day or to use up leftovers on Boxing Day.
Ingredients
400g pork sausage meat
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon orange zest
Mixed herbs
Salt and pepper, to season
Ready-to-roll puff pastry (or make your own!)
Cranberry sauce
Brie
1 beaten egg
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 200c/180c fan and lightly grease a baking sheet.
- Squeeze your sausage meat into a large bowl. If your using the meat from inside actual sausages, be sure not to include the skins. Crush or finely chop your garlic clove and add in with the orange zest. Season the meat with mixed herbs, salt and pepper to your liking, then set the bowl to one side.
- Lightly flour your clean surface and unroll your pastry on to it. Cut the pastry in half lengthways and using a teaspoon, spread cranberry sauce down the middle of each half, being sure to leave plenty of room on either side. Don’t use too much, otherwise it’ll leak out when baking.
- Divide your sausage meat in two and spread each along the length of the pastry on top of the cranberry sauce in a cylindrical shape. Then chop your Brie into slices and lay on top of the sausage meat.
- Brush one edge of the bare pastry with beaten egg, then fold the other bare side over the sausage meat to meet it, encasing the sausage tightly inside. Use a fork to press down on the pastry edges and cut any excess away with a knife. Repeat with the other pastry sheet.
- Using a sharp knife, cut each roll into 4 and poke two slits in the top of each one to release the steam while they bake. Brush beaten egg over each one, then bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden.
- Remove them from the oven once golden and allow them to cool for a few minutes before serving them up warm.
I honestly had no idea how these guys would turn out and I was a little worried about the cheese and sauce leaking, leaving me with a burned mess. But they worked so so well, and they taste phenomenal. Even J, who had no idea if he liked cranberry sauce or not, loved them and helped himself to two! Now that I know how simple sausage rolls are to make, maybe I’ll make more. I’m thinking about pork and apple ones next… yum!
Oooo these looks good!! Never made a sausage roll before, but you've made it sound easier than I would have expected – a danger in the kitchen like myself may even be able to make them 🙂
Caz x
Caz, they're SUPER easy! You should definitely give them a try x
Oh my god, coming across this post just before you're having lunch is never a good idea! They look unbelievable!
Beth x
http://www.bethelouise.co.uk
Girl, you need to make some of these! They're utterly scrumptious! x
Oh my goodness these sound so delicious, layering the brie on top is such a good idea, it's acceptable to make these all year round…right?! x
Han | lifewithhan.blog
DEFINITELY acceptable to make these all year round! x
Can you freeze them? and is it ok to reheat them, they sound delicious.
I always flash freeze my raw sausage rolls in freezer for at least 4 hours. Then bag them and into freezer. End result when baking them is exactly the same as freshly made😋
Would love some now , look lovely!
Oh yeah! I’m making these tomorrow with the leftover cranberry sauce from thanksgiving! Genius idea!
I’m a Northerner too (England) and my Mum used to make sausage rolls at Christmas, but just using cooked sausages and homemade shortcrust pastry – she didn’t believe in using seasoning! These look delicious 😋
Ahh snap, I’m up in the North East! I definitely recommend you give these a go if you love a sausage roll at Christmas!
Love the idea of cranberry and Brie in these, we have our WI December meeting this week and these will definitely be on the table as a savoury alternative to mince pies with the mulled wine.
Could you use turkey sausage meat? The whole grams and Celsius thing is throwing me !
I don’t see why not! And sorry, I live in the UK – grams and celcius is all I know!
you can find conversion tables on the internet – fairly easy. 400 grams is slightly over 14 ounces. 200 degrees celsius is approximately 400 fahrenheit .
My mom was from england and used to make us sausage rolls at christmas , they were so good, i’ve never made them before but these look so yummy i’m going to have to try! thanks for the recipe.
I am going to make these delicious looking rolls, my question is, how long will they keep for? can they be reheated? or is it best to freeze them. I was going to make them today but 22.12.21 but need to know the answer first.
Stay safe and well
Kind regards
Sylvia
Hi Sylvia! They should keep from fresh in an airtight container for up to 3 days. I would re-heat them in the oven to avoid them going soggy and they absolutely can be frozen 🙂
Hi. Exactly what type of herbs do you put into the sausage meat with the garlic and orange zest? I was thinking a pinch of cayenne pepper but wanted to know what you put in yours?
Hi Kim, I use a pot of mixed herbs. These usually contain marjoram, oregano, basil and thyme, but I’d say what you use is totally up to interpretation! If you fancy some cayenne pepper, absolutely give it a try x
Could you explain a bit about adding the brie. Do you keep the rind on or off? How big of a piece is the brie cut into?
Hi Shannon. To be honest, it’s chef’s choice! I quite like the rind, so I’d leave it on, but if you aren’t a fan, you can cut it off. And I cut my Brie pieces to the width of the sausage meat line. I hope that makes sense!
What could you use instead of the cranberry sauce? No one in my household will even try it!
Oh, that’s a shame! It makes them so so Christmassy. You could try a caramelised onion jam?
How much puff pastry should use. I’ve got shop bought and there’s one sheet per pack. Each sheet weighs 320g. I’m in the UK and it’s Just- Roll. Hopefully you’ll know what I mean. Thanks
Sheila
Hi Sheila, that’s the exact same as I used 🙂 there was plenty in one pack
This recipe just now popped up on my Pinterest…but better late than never.
All of the following go well with Brie and would complement the sausage and Brie well: Orange Marmalade, Strawberry Preserves, Raspberry Preserves, Hot Pepper Jam, Mint Jelly.
Before you make all the sausage rolls, an easy way to see what combination you prefer would be to cook a small portion of sausage, top with your first choice of jam and a small piece of Brie.
Wouldn’t it be fun to make an assortment?!
Happy eating!
Patricia
If you live near an IKEA store, then buy some of their lingonberry jam and use that. It’s the jam that IKEA serve with their legendary meatballs. Delicious!
Oh yes it is amazing! I am from Newfoundland, 🇨🇦 and we call those berries, partridge Erie’s and we have an abundance of them in late summer early fall! That is a fantastic suggestion, I will try that tomorrow when I make these!
Hi Olivia, these Xmas sausage rolls look amazing! I was wondering if they can be assembled the day before cooking and left in the fridge raw in an air tight container, or will the puff pastry dry out?
Hi Corinne. I’ll be honest, I don’t really know. If you can make them as close to time as possible, that would definitely best, but if you do make them more than 24 hours before, make sure the container you pop them in is as airtight as possible
Hi Olivia great idea and really good to see some cooking / baking inspiration from somebody on Teesside.
Hope you have a nice Christmas and yes I will be trying these.
Paul (Nunthorpe)
do you cook the sausage meat before all of this?
or do you add it to the puff pastry raw?
Hi Kayla! It’s added to the puff pastry raw 🙂
Hello! Can’t wait to make these- how much brie do I need?! Thank you- and Merry Christmas!!
Hi Rebecca! I typically just get a pre-cut wedge of Brie and slice it up longways, as the slices tend to lay really nicely along the top of the sausage meat 🙂
Making our second batch of these today – absolutely love them. We froze some of our first batch and they defrosted really well. Thanks for the recipe.
you speak of mixed herbs…. what are they?
Hi Dianne, it was a jar of mixed herbs like this: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-mixed-herbs-14g
This particular jar has Thyme, Marjoram, Oregano, Parsley, Sage and Basil
I make sausage rolls a lot not only at Xmas these sound delicious I will definitely try them. I live in Canada grew up in Eire and the sausages there are to die for can’t get them here unfortunately, we get the English ones but they are not the same as the irish ones .
Have a wonderful Cmas
I am in America and pork sausage (which is predominantly a breakfast sausage) is already seasoned and not a flavor that would go well cranberry sauce or Brie. I think adding more herbs would be too much and not at all complimentary to the already seasoned sausage.
A Dutch pork sausage recipe is ground pork, ground beef, allspice, salt, pepper. Another (more traditional) is just lean ground pork shoulder and spices. These recipes are used to make Dutch Pigs in a Blanket.
Is your sausage already flavored when you buy it? What do you recommend?
Thank you. Patricia
Tried these for a pre Christmas party, and they were delicious! My grandmother was British and she used to make some so I was trying to find a recipe similar to what she used to make. 200 C is 392-400 F, and I also used Trader Joe’s cranberry orange relish instead of doing cranberry and orange zest separately. I did make them two days ahead and froze them until I was ready to bake, and they were still moist. Also, you can get pork sausage unseasoned here, so I used sage and an Italian seasoning mix.
I am in the US and our puff pastry comes two sheets per box. Will I just use one sheet for this recipe or both? I could just see how much filling I have and how it would fit, but I have to thaw the pastry ahead of time so wouldn’t know that until too late. I wasn’t clear by how the instructions were written as it gave no amount. Planning to make these tonight. Thanks
Hi Inger. In the UK, our puff pastry has one sheet per box and so I only used one sheet in this recipe, but cut in half lengthways to make two separate pieces to turn into rolls. The puff pastry I used weighs 320g. I hope that helps?
Didn’t see this until after I was done but I also just used one sheet and it was perfect. Thanks, we’ll probably have them again!
Ok I’m Australian and living in America I make sausage rolls to get my fix. Will definitely try these!!!!
I live in America. What would be the equivalent of (pork sausage meat) Is that just ground (minced) pork that you are seasoning yourself in to sausage? is that breakfast sausage?
Hi Ryan, if I can’t find sausage meat, I cut the skins off pork sausages and squeeze out the meat. Hopefully that helps!
Hi, I made similar to these from Pinterest but they didn’t have garlic or herbs, so will try these. I put the Brie in the middle of the sausage meat so that I didn’t lose it. I am from the uk and like to try new things.
I’m in the USA these sound great! I’m getting ready to make these with sage flavored breakfast sausage and adding orange zest parsley garlic as called for in recipe. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
We made in Canada for Christmas Eve snacking and they were delicious and so easy!! Will be making these and other variations throughout the year. Thx
Hi there. I just found this post for the sausage rolls and they sound delicious! Quick question, if I make them and freeze them as you had mentioned above, do I bake them from frozen, and if so, what approx how long.
Thanks.
Joanne