Vegetarian party sausage rolls

These are absolutely fantastic party fare, and always a big hit with both vegetarians and meat eaters (sorry vegans, but these do include dairy and eggs). Vegetarians particularly rejoice when you serve these up at your parties, especially those who grew up with party pies and sausage rolls as the ultimate party food. These sausage rolls taste almost exactly like the meat kind (except not as greasy): vegetarians can now get to indulge in the nostalgic party food of their youth with gay abandon. Unlike a lot of veggie rolls, these are in no way earnest or too healthy, which is always a good thing when you’re having a party – I don’t think grated carrot (or, god forbid, lentils!) have any place in a party sausage roll.

A word of warning: the raw mix of the filling looks kind of revolting (as the former German Chancellor, Otto von Bismark, once said,  people should never know how laws and sausages are made). The first time I made these, I made a double batch of the filling to bake off the next day. When I put it in my fridge, it looked kind of like a large bowl of dog puke. I found this recipe from Stacey at Veggie Mama and while she had warned that the mix looked slightly off putting, I wasn’t really prepared for how much so. I went to bed that night and woke up at three o’clock in the morning in a cold sweat wondering what the hell I was going to do with the giant bowl of dog puke in my fridge. I should have had more faith, because they turned out brilliantly. When these rolls are baked, the ends magically turn brown and appetising looking, just like the party sausage rolls from your childhood, but even better! I guess the moral to this story is that sausage making, even of the vegetarian kind, is never a pretty sight.

Vegetarian party sausage rolls

Adapted from Veggie Mama

• 3 eggs
• 250 grams (1 cup) of cottage cheese
• ½ cup of crushed walnuts
• 2½ tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1½ cups breadcrumbs (I use Panko breadcrumbs)
• 1½ cups rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon dry veggie stock (I use Massel chicken-style stock)
• 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan-style cheese.
• handful of parsley (optional)
• 3 sheets of frozen puff pastry
• 1 egg beaten together, with a little milk for egg wash for pastry

1. In a large bowl, mix together rolled oats, bread crumbs, seasoning and Parmesan.
2. Process  walnuts, parsley, eggs, cottage cheese, onion and soy sauce together and add to rolled oats mixture. Mix together until well incorporated.
3. Pre-heat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced).
4. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
5. Cut pastry sheets in half and mound a layer of sausage mix down the centre. Roll up sheets and seal with egg wash.
6. Cut each roll into five pieces, place on baking tray with seamed side down, brush with egg wash and bake for 30 minutes or until golden.