Giant Christmas 'Sausage' Roll
This is the one we bring out every Christmas and it never fails to get a reaction. A giant, golden, flaky sausage roll packed with a herby parsnip and hazelnut filling looks seriously impressive on the table and tastes even better than it looks. The parsnips give it this lovely creamy, earthy base, and the toasted hazelnuts add a proper crunch that makes every bite interesting. We love this one because it actually feels festive and special, not like a compromise. If you're looking for a plant-based centrepiece that'll genuinely wow people, make this one.
Before You Start
- Preheat oven to 180°C
- Large baking tray lined with parchment paper
- Food processor
- Large mixing bowl
- Potato masher
- Spatula
- Boiling pan
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Nooch
- 2 tbsp chickpea flour
- 1 tsp thyme
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp olive oil - To Brush
- 3 parsnips
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 100g hazelnuts
- 150g chestnut mushrooms
- 1 red onion
- 1 x 400g can of butter beans
- 1 x 400g can of cannellini beans
- 100ml vegetable stock
- 2 garlic cloves - crushed
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 ½ tsp fennel seeds
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp allspice
- 100g pre-cooked chestnuts
- 200g brown breadcrumbs
- 1 sheet of plant-based puff pastry
- 2 tsp salt
- Salt & pepper to taste
Method
1
First, boil the parsnips and roast the hazelnuts
- Peel and quarter the parsnips, put them in a pan, completely cover them in cold water, add 2 teaspoons of salt and put them on the stove
- Bring the water to the boil, when the water hits a good rolling boil, cook the parsnips for 7 minutes
- Drain the water, mash the parsnips and let them cool down
- Put the Hazelnuts on a baking tray, put the tray in the oven and bake the hazelnuts for 10m minutes
- Take the Hazelnuts out of the oven, let them cool down to room temperature and then roughly chop them into small pieces
2
Then, fry the onions, garlic and mushrooms
- Peel the red onion and dice it up into small pieces and then roughly cut up the mushrooms into ½ cm pieces
- Pour 2 tbsp of olive oil into a frying pan, warm it up and slowly sweat the onion until soft and translucent, which takes around 10 minutes
- Add the mushrooms and crushed garlic to the pan and cook them for 5-7 minutes
- Transfer the mushrooms and the onions to a large mixing bowl
3
Next, make the "sausage" mix
- Drain the beans and pour them into a food processor
- Now add the vegetable stock, maple syrup, oil, soy sauce, nutritional yeast and spices and pulse it all together until smooth
- Add the mushrooms and onions to the food processor and pulse them into the mixture (pulsing in stages will ensure you get a well blended mixture)
- Add the mashed parsnips, roast hazelnuts and chestnuts to the food processor and blend everything together into a paste
- Pour the contents of the food processor into the mixing bowl, add the breadcrumbs and chickpea flour and fold everything together with a spatula
- Taste the mixture and season accordingly (there will be a slight, earthy flavour that you may think is odd - don’t worry, that’s the chickpea flour, it will come good when the mixture is baked)
4
Assemble the "sausage" roll
- Line a large baking tray with parchment paper and carefully lay the sheet of puff pastry on top
- Use a wooden spoon to transfer the mixture on to the pastry
- It’s important you create a 2.5 inch high “sausage” (roughly ⅓ of the width of the puff pastry sheet) down the right side of the pastry, leaving 1.5 inches of exposed pastry. You will be left with a decent amount of mixture - don’t worry, that’s for you to use for Bubble and Squeak on Boxing Day!
- Use your hands to smooth and shape the mixture into a dome shape
- Brush around the edges of the whole sheet of pastry with water - this is your glue
- Carefully lift up the side of the pastry that has no filling on top of it and fold the pastry over the top of the “sausage” filling
- It’s important that you fold the pastry tightly so that you have enough of a lip to stick the the edges together
- Press the edges of the pastry down with your fingers firmly, this will ensure the pastry doesn’t pop open when your Sausage Roll is in the open
5
Bake and enjoy!
- Score decorative lines across the top of the Sausage Roll (making sure two or three of the lines pierce the pastry entirely - this will let excess steam release from your Sausage Roll)
- Brush the sausage roll with olive oil (this will help the pastry turn a nice golden colour)
- Put the Sausage Roll in the oven, on the middle shelf and bake it for 35-40 minutes (check after 30 minutes, some ovens vary and your Sausage Roll might need to be removed if it’s looking ready)
Tips & Variations
- Make it ahead: You can assemble the whole roll the night before and keep it in the fridge unbaked, then just pop it straight in the oven when you need it. One less thing to stress about on Christmas Day.
- Add some festive flavour: We love stirring a teaspoon of sage or a pinch of smoked paprika into the filling. It gives it a really warming, savoury depth that feels very Christmassy.
- Get the pastry golden: Brush it generously with plant-based milk before baking and don't be shy about it. That's what gives you that beautiful deep golden colour. A sprinkle of sesame seeds or flaky salt on top looks great too.
Why This Works
The trick here is mashing the parsnips while they're still warm and then letting them cool completely before you build the filling, otherwise the pastry can go soggy. Toasting the hazelnuts is non-negotiable too, it takes ten minutes and it makes them go from fine to absolutely delicious. Trust us on this one, those two steps are what take it from good to properly great.