h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Either buy ready made, or make your own!

Roll out some sausagemeat to a long sausage shape (you may need to divide it, and do several batches). Then roll out puff pastry (it's MUCH easier to buy this ready made!) to the same length, and not too thick. Place teh meat onto the pastry, and wrap it up! Just pull the pastry over, damp teh edges of the pastry with a little water, and press together. Secure by crimping the edges with a fork, and cut into whatever size sausage rolls you want! Brush a little milk over the top, and place onto a baking tray. Bake in the oven until the meat is cooked, and the pastry is nice and crumbly!

Sounds great but what does it cost in cash and time compared with a Supermarket megabag. Or is there a simple ingredient to make them taste so much better?

Cost wise, I would imagine it's much cheaper than ready made ones.

Time? Maybe half an hour to roll everything out. Then perhaps ten minutes putting it all together. Of course, you could get a couple of friends/family to help, and cut this down considerably.

Cooking time is probably similar to supermarket ones from frozen.

thanks doc

For "cocktail size" sausage rolls, I'd find it hard to justify the extra time in making them.. The last time I bought a bag of 50 frozen ones, it cost 89p; A lump of sausagemeat was 99p, and puff pastry isn't cheap. The lump of sausagemeat might make 150 at the size of the 50 frozen ones, but the two packs of puff pastry that I guess you'd require would probably take it up to about the same price. Plus, you'd need to clear a lot of kitchen space and spend an afternoon rolling and cutting. 8)

wow, and its already been updated as such.
i have always thought that there were two types of sausage roll, those that are really nice, and those that are clammy, flakey and leave that sheen of cold fat on the roof of your mouth. i don't know if this is cost or method related, its just a fact of life. of course in the dimmed party lighting it is virtually impossible to tell which you are dealing with untill you have eaten one.

I think that usually depends on how fresh they are... the pastry tends to go a bit stale and soggy within a couple of days...
The fat content of the sausagemeat probably has some effect too, although most of the excess comes out during the cooking process.

J

fair enough, not being any sort of culinary expert (or even competent) i have little idea of the science of such things. is a stale sausage roll at a party a sighn that the host was way ahead of time in the cooking schedule, or that such are leftovers from previous buffet?

That probably depends how recent the other buffet was! I would guess it's normally an over-keen host though..

J

hehe, *remembers heather and her three month baking schedule* oh sorry, you had to be there.

don't you me young fellow me lad.

How about a then?

nono, don't trust these smileys at all.
is there a sausage roll smiley? ?

Not yet! I think the nearest is !

hmmmm, all these useless smileys, and never the ones you want. is there a rainbow do you know?

I don't think so. Have you checked at <./>Smiley</.>? Or you could click on a smiley to get to the same page...

good plan