Spiced lamb sausage rolls

Beige food doesn’t get better than a good flaky sausage roll, and when still warm from the oven, they become a particular weakness of mine. These are inspired by my favourite North African merguez sausages, packed with lamb, cumin and spicy harissa. I’ve also added in some dried apricots for a little sweetness. Serve them with a cooling yoghurt dip on the side – just mix plain yoghurt with some chopped fresh mint and coriander (cilantro).

Makes 8-12

WHAT YOU NEED

For the rough puff pastry

275g (9¾oz/2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
225g (8oz/1 cup) cold unsalted butter, diced
½ tsp fine sea salt
7–8 Tbsp ice-cold water

For the filling

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced/grated 1 tsp cumin seeds
1½ tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp harissa paste
400g (14oz) minced (ground) lamb
50g (1¾oz) dried apricots, roughly chopped
50g (1¾oz/1 cup) fresh breadcrumbs
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp fine sea salt

To finish

1 egg, beaten
2 tsp sesame seeds and nigella (black onion) seeds

WHAT TO DO

To make the pastry, add the flour, butter and salt to a bowl. Use your fingertips to briefly rub the butter into the flour. The mixture should be quite coarse – you want some larger pieces of butter. Add the water a tablespoon at a time and mix with a table knife until you have a rough dough. You may not need all the water.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it into a large rectangle, about 1cm (½in) thick, with a short edge facing you. Fold the top third of the dough down to the middle then fold the bottom third on top of that (like folding a letter – if the pastry starts to get too warm or sticky, let it firm up in the refrigerator). Give the dough a quarter turn, roll it out to a large rectangle again and repeat the folding. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Roll out the chilled pastry and fold as above one more time, then chill for another 30 minutes or until ready to use. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6). Line a baking sheet with baking paper.

To make the filling, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, add the onion and fry for a few minutes until softened. Add the garlic and spices and cook for another minute until the mixture is fragrant. Stir in the harissa, then remove from the heat and pour into a bowl. Add the lamb to the bowl along with the chopped apricots, breadcrumbs, lemon zest and salt. Use your hands to mix, making sure everything is well combined.

Lightly dust the work surface with flour and roll out the pastry to a large rectangle about 3mm (⅛in) thick. Cut this lengthways down the middle to give you two long rectangles. Place a layer of the filling mixture down the middle of each rectangle and brush one edge of each piece with beaten egg. Pull over the other side of pastry to encase the sausage, pressing to seal. Slice each rectangle into 6 sausage rolls (or 4 if you want bigger ones) and place them on the baking sheet. Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up.

Brush the rolls with egg wash and sprinkle on the seeds. Bake for 35–40 minutes until golden and the bottoms are cooked. Cool a little before eating.


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