This particular recipe uses feta cheese; which is a firm but crumbly salty cheese of Greek origin that is usually made from sheep’s or goat’s milk and preserved in brine. The goat’s milk variety is of particular interest as unlike cow’s milk it contains no lactose and is therefore safe for consumption of those suffering from lactose intolerance. You can use other varieties of cheese if you wish.

Note that you can use 4 sheets of puff pastry when making chunky sausage rolls or 6 if you are making more snack sized finger-food sausage rolls.

Ingredients

• 500 Grams of Chicken Mince
• 1 Cup of Rice
• 2 Medium-Large Carrots (enough to produce ½ Cup when finely grated)
• ¼ Cup of Chopped Garlic Chives
• 50 Grams of Crumbled Feta Cheese
• 1 Large Egg
• 4 or 6 Sheets of Puff Pastry
• 2 Teaspoons of Black Sesame Seeds or Poppy Seeds (or both)
• A Little Milk for Glazing – Use goat’s milk if the lactose intolerant are to consume the fruits of your labors
• Salt and Pepper to Taste

Preparation

• Steam 1 cup of rice
• Peel and finely grate the carrots
• Beat the egg
• Thaw the puff pastry

Preparing the Chicken Mince Filling

1. Add the chicken mince, grated carrot, chopped garlic chives, steamed rice, feta cheese and egg to your mixing bowl and combine well. The idea is to make sure that the ingredients are reasonably evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
2. Season the mix with salt and pepper to taste and mix some more to thoroughly combine. You may wish to add some crushed garlic at this point.
3. Divide the mixture into 4 or 6 even portions depending upon how many sheets of puff pastry you intend to use

Filling and Rolling the Pastry

1. Lay one sheet of puff pastry onto a flat lightly floured working surface
2. Now spoon the filling portion along one edge. Adjust to make sure that the filling is even along its entire length as this makes rolling the pastry considerably easier.
3. Grab the edge of the pastry along which you have lined up the chicken mince filling and roll it over the top of the filling. The filling should rotate as you do so. When this edge meets the still flat portion of your sheet of pastry dip your finger in water or use a brush to brush a light line of water the entire roll width of the still flat section of the pastry as this will help it stick and make finishing the rolling process considerably easier. Now you can use the palms of your hands to lightly roll up the rest of the sheet of pastry.
4. Use a little water to stick the final edge of the pastry sheet to the rolled enclosed section. Using this technique has the advantage that since you are not exerting any great force while rolling the pastry none of the filling will get squeezed out of the ends.
5. Take a non-serrated blade knife, moisten it and cut the chicken sausage rolls into the desired lengths
6. Place each of the sections of chicken mince filled puff pastry sausage rolls in turn onto your baking trays. Do not place them too close together as we want them all to cook evenly.
7. Continue this process until all of the filling is used up
8. Now lightly score the top of each sausage roll with a sharp blade (do not cut so deep as to expose the meat filling)
9. Brush all of the lightly scored sausage rolls with a little milk and then sprinkle the seeds over them. They are now ready to cook.

Cooking

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (180 degrees C for the fan forced varieties)
2. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper
3. Place trays with prepared sausage rolls into the oven and bake until the pastry is a golden brown color and the chicken is cooked through (usually takes around 35 minutes)

Serving

• Serve hot on serving trays accompanied by a selection of dunking sauces if being used as appetizers, finger food, party food or dunking snacks
• If being used for a main meal place the sausage rolls straight from the oven to dinner plates and add side servings of salad and or vegetables. Let the diners serve their own sauces as they like.

Yield

The proportions used in this recipe will yield enough chicken sausage rolls to comfortably feed 6 adults.

If using for a main meal then it is a good idea to have side servings of mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables (peas, carrots and corn).

Note – You can cut the sausage rolls to any length desired which means you can make large chicken sausage rolls as long as the width of your puff pastry sheets to anything shorter all the way down to 2 inch savory chicken sausage rolls ideal as finger food or just a watching a movie at home dunking snack.