Lamb Sausage Rolls

If you recall, I've been bragging about the lamb we purchased from the U of A Meat's Lab a while ago. Needless to say most of the more tender cuts of it have been devoured leaving a couple of leg roasts and the least tender of the bunch - shoulder roasts. Yesterday I took the liberty of rippin' into one of them and made some ground lamb courtesy of my trusty KitchenAid and it's multi use attachments.

A pound of the very lean freshly ground meat went into the making of some lamb sausage loaded with shallots, garlic and fresh parsley and flavored with fennel, orange zest and coriander. Wrapped in a pastry blanket they were perfect Friday night specials along with our libations and a salad of course.

Sausage rolls are extremely popular in the British Isles and there's barely a bakery in Canada that doesn't sell a version of them as well. They're perfect for whipping up and hiding unbaked in your freezer for when unexpected guests drop by because they take no time to bake from frozen and smell glorious when they're in the oven. They can be made bite sized for appetizers or more substantial as lunch or dinner items with a little dipping sauce on the side. We used our Kicky Kumquat Marmalade as well as some grainy mustard but they're just fine on their own too.

Incidentially, if you're not into lamb you can certainly make the rolls with ground pork, beef or even chicken but the lamb really gives them a fabulous flavor all their own. Should you want to forget the pastry, the sausage would be just lovely formed into little patties or meatballs and fried or as a filling in ravioli or won ton's too.

Lamb Sausage Rolls (adapted Canadian Living Magazine)

1 pkg. frozen puff pastry thawed per package directions

1 pound lean ground lamb

1 egg plus 1 egg white (save yolk for later use)

1/4 cup panko crumbs

1 shallot, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 teaspoons fennel seeds

1/2 teaspoon coriander

Grated zest of 1 large orange

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard

1 egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Combine lamb, egg, panko, shallot, garlic, parsley, fennel, coriander, orange and salt and pepper. Set aside.  Roll a sheet of puff pastry on a floured board to a 10 inch by 10 inch square. Cut pastry in half making two 5 by 10 inch strips. Coat pastry with a thin layer of Dijon mustard and place a strip of meat along the 10 inch side of the pastry. Roll pastry over to enclose filling, pressing firmly to enclose meat in pastry and place seam on the bottom. Move to baking sheet and repeat with remaining pastry and filling.  Refrigerate until firm (about a half hour). May be frozen at this point and baked later.

Preheat oven to 400. Cut rolls into desired size (2 inch to 3 inch pieces). Brush with egg/water glaze and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. If baking from frozen, do not thaw first and add additional 10 minutes to cooking time. Makes 12 large rolls or 24 smaller ones. Serve with coarse grain mustard as a dipping sauce. Download Lamb Sausage Rolls with Orange and Fennel

Comments

[Nanan]

Count me and William in - with pork - hehehehehe - and no fennel seeds - we are just not fans of licorice flavor.... I know picky-picky! HA!

[June]

Lea - pork would work just fine and while the fennel is very subtle, I don't think it would be missed if ya up the black pepper and add some red pepper flakes - LOL

[pam]

That was such a great idea to ground up the tougher cuts! And then to make them into a wonderful sounding sausage!

[June]

Aw thanks Pam. You're so sweet but I sure wish I'd had the butcher do it for me but then I would have deprived myself of the prideful feeling at the end. Ya, I'll go with that one. Actually, the sausage is really worth making!

[Mary from Apron Strings & Wedding Rings]

Oh my goodness... These look wonderful June! Need I say that I like the frozen puff pastry dough instead of anything homemade with yeast! HAPPY EASTER! - Mary L.

[June]

Thanks Mary and you're right. They are easy to put together with purchased puff pastry dough however we're just going to have to get you over the yeast phobia!