Last week I had a great time baby sitting my niece (Princess 8) and nephew (Master 5) while Mr 2 was at day care. It’s been over two years since I’ve had these two rascals at my place for an entire day, so made the most of it and packed in a lot of different activities – we went to the park, visited grandparents and we did some cooking!
I adore spending time with kids and giving them a chance to make a mess in the kitchen. I figure a mess is excusable if the end result is good memories and delicious food. This particular recipe is super easy – actually… we made it up on the spot – and was a hit with both the kids (and my husband). So if you’re looking for a simple sausage roll recipe, a way to kill some time while baby sitting, or simply want to get your kids cooking, all you need is some puffed pastry, minced meat and basic pantry ingredients!
As I was setting all this up I made sure they knew there were kitchen rules they had to follow so they stayed safe; so when I said “stop” or “hands off” they really had to stop, and they needed to listen carefully to all the instructions. Princess 8 and Master 5 were beautiful, happy little chefs, and looooved taking turns using the food processor, Ah the simple joys of childhood. First up, peel and quarter an onion and 2 cloves of garlic, and whizz those along with two slices of toasted multigrain bread in a food processor for a few seconds.
Then add 500g of minced beef. They can take turns adding it into the food processor by the spoonful:
And add about 1 tablespoon of herbs. I just used rosemary, and got them to take turns using the salt grinder too:
Once the meat is mixed, you can set it aside and get cracking on the fun, artistic part of this whole cooking process: cutting pastry. I had some simple cookie cutters they each used to cut up an even number of pastry sheets:
And once that was all done, you just add some meat to the sheet:
And seal it off with a fork:
Place these on a baking tray, and use a pastry brush to brush a dab of milk on top of each sausage roll (or should I be calling them meat pies? We did roll some up using plain rectangular puffed pastry sheets, but let’s face it, stars are way more fun to eat). Then bake them in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 30 minutes. We made some dessert pastries (puffed pastry with berries and chocolate squares inside) and cleaned up while the sausage rolls were cooking. When they were done they were piping hot and ready to be served with some sauce and carrot sticks on the side:
Hmmm… ready for devouring. Which is exactly what the two of them did:
Successful? I think so! They seemed to enjoy themsleves and they managed to get through the entire day without asking for junk food. Yippeee!
Want to try it? Here’s a printable recipe:
- 1 brown onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 slices multigrain bread, toasted
- 500g minced beef
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon herbs (eg rosemary)
- Pinch of salt
- 4-6 sheets of puffed pastry, thawed
- 15ml milk (use soy milk if you want a dairy-free version)
- Preheat your oven 180°C and line 2-3 baking trays with baking paper.
- Peel the garlic cloves and onion, then chop them using a food processor.
- Add the toasted bread, and process at high speed until toast is crumbled and ingredients are well combined.
- Add minced meat and eggs, and process at medium speed until combined.
- Add herbs and a pinch of salt, and process at low speed until well combined. Set aside.
- Take thawed puffed pastry sheets and cut them into 10x15cm rectangles or use cookie cutters to cut out an even number of shapes.
- If you’re using rectangles, take a small amount of meat and roll it into a sausage-like shape, then roll it in the pastry and place on the baking tray. If you’ve cut out shapes, use a tablespoon to place a small amount in the centre of piece of pastry, then cover it with a matching shape. Use a fork to seal the pastry by pressing down the edges.
- Brush the top of each roll/pie with milk, then bake for approx 20-30min, or until the pastry is brown and inside is well cooked.
- Serve with sauce and veggies.
This looks adorable!
Great idea, so very simple but hugely effective.
I’ve been thinking about these all morning and I’m not ashamed to say I just bought a sausage roll for lunch while I was out.
There are so many fantastic learning opportunities that you gave your niece and nephew during this activity. They look great!