This column first appeared in the Riverine Herald, McPherson Media Group May 28, 2025

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Growing up on a dairy farm, Mum, grandma and all the other local farmers' wives were in the CWA. 

I can only talk from my experience, but at the time in the local branch, there was a hierarchy of who got to cook and bring along what. 

The local branch’s longest-serving member always did the sponges; grandma did the flower arrangements and Mum was delegated to sausage rolls. 

Mum being delegated the sausage rolls meant that when she was milking cows, I was delegated the sausage rolls.  

We are talking about the early 1980s, when puff pastry came in a kilogram frozen block that you had to roll out yourself. 

I remember rolling out the pastry into a 60 cm square, then cutting the corner of the sausage mince tube and squeezing it out along the pastry, rolling it up and cutting out hundreds of mini sausage rolls. 

There must still be people who make sausage rolls like that, but they do not have to roll out the pastry, as that is done for you now.

Twice in recent history, I’ve been in the supermarket and witnessed a little old lady hounding a shop assistant because she couldn’t find the sausage mince to make her sausage rolls. 

The supermarket moved it to a different spot most of the time, as they do, but that’s a story for another time. 

These days, when making sausage rolls, I leave the sausage mince in the supermarket and use mince beef to make the afternoon tea, a finger food favourite.  

Here’s my recipe

• 1 carrot
• 1 zucchini
• One batch of homemade rough puff pastry or 6 sheets of ready rolled puff pastry
• 500 grams of beef mince
• A 250 ml jar of Jacican sweet black tomato chutney or any chutney you like
• 1 cup of breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• An extra egg and a little milk to make an egg wash

 

Here is how I make sausage rolls

1. Yesterday, grate the carrot and zucchini and place them in a sieve over a bowl. Leave in the fridge overnight. 

This allows the excess water to drain out of the vegetables, helping to prevent your homemade sausage rolls from leaking too much liquid and becoming soggy.

1. Preheat your oven to 190°C without a fan or 180°C with a fan. 

I never use the fan, so it is 190°C baking mode for me. 

1. Today, roll out your homemade puff pastry or lay the frozen sheets out to thaw.

The homemade rough puff pastry will likely make a 60cm square of pastry.

1. In a large bowl, combine the drained carrot and zucchini with the minced meat, chutney, breadcrumbs and egg. 

Mix together well. I like to wear gloves and do this with my hands. 

1. 5 cms from the edge of the puff pastry, make a log of the meat mix the length of the pastry. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg wash along each side of the pastry and roll up the sausage roll. 

You should get two rolls from a sheet of frozen or four from the homemade rough puff. 

1. Cut your sausage rolls into the lengths you would like.

Think four cm if you want party finger food sausage rolls, or 10 cm if you want them for lunch. 

1.  Place on a baking tray and bake for 25 minutes. 

Enjoy, with a bit of dead horse (tomato sauce) on the side.