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You know when you have a deadline and suddenly everything besides your work seems incredibly important and needs doing right now at this very second? Essentially my last two weeks have been just that. So obviously I just suddenly HAD to make vegetarian sausage rolls because clearly that is far more crucial to my life right now than say writing 10000 words in time for my deadline.
I rationalised this delightful attempt at procrastination by just using whatever I had left in my fridge/cupboards rather than actually going to the shops because apparently that is where my subconscious considers to be the line to total and utter time-wasting. I made my own pastry but I would actually suggest store-bought pastry for this as my mushroom rolls ended up being a bit too buttery, if there is indeed such a thing. I went for quite a spicy seasoning but you can just cut back on pepper and harissa paste if you prefer your food a bit milder. If you don’t have any harissa paste substituteit with 1tsp chilli flakes to get you the desired results.
The recipe below makes six normal sized mushroom rolls, but I halved mine again before baking to make mini-rolls. The mini-rolls make a nice snack sized vegetarian treat and the size makes no difference to the cooking time in this cake so feel free to change it to whatever you prefer.
1 packet puff pastry (about 400g)
300g mushrooms (I used mini-portabellas but any ‘brown’ mushroom will do)
1 medium onion
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp thyme
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp harissa paste
100g strong cheddar
1 egg
1. Chop the mushrooms, onion and garlic finely. I am normally not that bothered about chopping things evenly but here you do really need quite small pieces so that you can get a kind of sausagemeat texture.
2. In a large frying pan over a medium to high heat melt your butter and olive oil together, then add the mushrooms and onion and fry for 5 mins.
3. Add the garlic, thyme, black pepper and harissa paste, turn the heat down to medium and fry for another 5 mins.
4. Grate the cheese over the mushroom mix and set aside to cool to room temperature. If you are in a hurry transfer everything to a bowl and chill it in the fridge.
5. Cut your pastry into 6 rectangles. If it came rolled on baking paper leave it on there, it cuts down on the clean-up afterwards.
6. Cover a large baking tray with parchment paper and pre-heat your oven to 220C (200C fan assisted).
7. Spread 1/6 of the mushroom mix along the short side of your first rectangle. Brush the opposite short side with water then roll it up, starting on the side with the filling. Put seam side down on the baking tray and slash it a few times with a knife.
8. Repeat with the rest of the mushroom mix and pastry. Brush your mushroom rolls with beaten egg and bake for 20 mins.
