Gloria's Sausage Rolls

Gloria's Sausage Roll Recipe

It's lucky for Gloria Spitz—Pippa Hunnechurch's one and only associate—that she can eat anything without gaining an ounce, because her sausage rolls (which she perfected during the events chronicled in The Second Mile) are packed with calories and choloesterol. (Consider them another occasional treat, in the same category as English Trifle. Their somewhat "sinful" nature probably explains why they are popular hot fare at afternoon teas and evening parties. Pippa also likes them cold, for breakfast.

Main Ingredients

Egg — a medium egg, beaten
Pork "breakfast" sausage — 12-ounce package (Gloria is partial to the Jimmy Dean brand)
Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets — one package
Onion — a medium onion, finely chopped
Breadcrumbs — unflavored, one-half cup
Parsley — 1.5 tablespoons, finely chopped
Thyme — one-half teaspoon, dried, crushed
Ground sage, nutmeg, pepper, cloves (optional) — one-quarter teaspoon of each.

Preheat your oven to 400 F. Put the sausage and dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Pour in half of the beaten egg and mix well. Unfold the puff pastry sheets (roll out if necessary) and cut into three-inch wide strips. Place a "bead" of mixture about three-quarters of an inch in diameter on center of each puff pastry strip. Brush the edges of the strips with beaten egg, then roll up the filled puff pastry into cylinders (the seams should be on the bottom of each cylinder),

Brush the puff pastry cylinders with beaten egg, then cut into one and half inch rolls. Place the rolls seam side down on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 F and bake for 15 more minutes, or until the sausage rolls are golden brown. Serve while warm. Makes about 20 sausage rolls.