Apple and Stilton Sausage Rolls

Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork
3 sprigs' worth fresh thyme leaves
5 leaves sage, chopped
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup small cubed apple (I used Pink Lady)
1/4 cup crumbled Stilton
salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 box (17.3 oz) puff pastry (defrosted)
1 egg yolk, beaten
sesame seeds, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Line one large or two smaller baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix the pork together with the herbs, spices, cheese, and apple until all ingredients are evenly distributed. Roll the meat into 4 long sausages about 1 1/2 inch around and about a foot long.

Place each puff pastry sheet, unfolded on a large flat surface. Slice in half, length-wise.

Place a sausage in the middle of each of the four sheets. Fold the sheet over the sausage and press close with the tines of a fork. Repeat for remaining pastry/sausage. Slice each into thirds.

Place on the prepared baking sheet leaving an inch or so between each roll. Brush with egg, sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired.

Bake 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Allow to cool on a wire rack, serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

My thoughts:

I've always wanted to make sausage rolls. I've read about them since I was a child in British novels and they are frequently mentioned in the various U.K. shows we watch. I had always thought they'd be a bit tricky to make because people seemed to make the pastry themselves but when I noticed more than one British Instagramer make them using readymade puff pasty, I thought if it was good enough for them, it was good enough for me!

Since I was using puff pastry and am in the US with limited access to British sausages, I bought ground pork and made the sausage myself. Since it goes in the rolls raw, it is easy to mix up and roll into tubes. And because I can't leave well enough alone, I mixed in some apple and English Stilton to fancy them up a bit. They'd be fine without it but it made them a bit more special. The sausage rolls were everything I hoped they would be: juicy, flavorful and very satisfying.