Sausage Rolls (Potato Pastry)

I've been thinking about making sausage rolls for a while but the perfect pastry has always been a bit elusive.  Some store-bought ready-rolled pastries have been non-performers, a bit lacklustre,  leaving me feeling frustrated and a little annoyed at wasted ingredients.

So I decided to give potato pastry a try.  It's important to note that this pastry is quite different to the traditional flaky pastry that usually encompasses the sausage meat.  Nevertheless, it is quite tasty, lends itself well to this type of baking, browns nicely and produces a good looking baked product on completion.  Further more, all of the ingredients are general pantry items and can be easily purchased from your regular supermarket.  

I decided to road-test the following pastry recipe I found at www.bestrecipes.com.au



1 cup plain gluten free flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 large potato, peeled and cooked until tender
60g butter softened
60g Philly cheese, softened
Oil spray (I use Rice Bran Oil)
Sesame seeds or poppy seeds - totally your preference



I used Birregurra Farm Foods Gourmet Sausage Mince as I really wanted to concentrate on the pastry today.  Don't discount this meat filling though, it is a quality product, already shaped into 2 convenient logs and ready to go.  It is made with beef, pork, fresh parsley, roasted garlic & sautéed onions.  You can purchase this product at Coles.

Alternatively, making your own filling is a cinch and basically comprises of approximately 500g of sausage mince, your choice of herbs and any additional flavours you choose to enhance flavour.

 
1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
2. Drain cooked potato and allow to cool
3. Sieve dry ingredients & combine
4. Place potato into mixer bowl and beat until smooth -add butter, Philly and dry ingredients and beat (starting slowly) until mixture comes together and becomes firmer then increasing speed so that mix becomes lighter and more aerated. 
5. Squash the dough together, form into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
 6. Roll out pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper.  Roll into a large rectangular shape and aim for about a 3mm thickness.  Don't stress about an exact shape because as long as you have the desired thickness and enough width to cover the meat filling you can be more accurate with your knife ~ trimming and adjusting.  You can then roll the excess pastry into a ball for your next one and repeat the process.
 7. Utilise the baking paper to help you roll the pastry over the meat filling.  Place the sausage roll seam side down on a paper lined tray, spray with oil and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds and bake. 
 8. The recipe stated 10-12 minutes but my rolls were quite large and so I baked for a total of 25 minutes checking after 12 minutes initially, then every 4 or 5 minutes until browned to my liking.






I was pretty happy with the end result but it was a HUGE hit with Abb - who gives the harshest critique.  My 6 year old Coeliac judge and jury.

So there you have it.  Next stop.. sour cream pastry and maybe one day soon, dare I say it..  I will tackle a gluten free puff! EEK!

- See more at: http://digitalparents.com.au/page/blog-carnival#sthash.qJQvBkuq.dpuf