Green No-Sausage Rolls
With a delicious, simple filling, and using prepared puff pastry, these Green No-Sausage Rolls taste luxurious and vaguely virtuous at the same time, and are very hard to stop eating after just one!
Servings: 8 Rolls
Ingredients
- 1-2 teaspoons olive oil extra virgin
- 3 green onions finely sliced
- 250 grams or (10 oz) mixed sturdy greens washed and finely shredded (approximately 10 cups when shredded, not packed) any preferred combination of spinach, swiss chard, mustard greens, and kale etc.,
- 1-2 teaspoons water
- ½ cup feta finely crumbled
- 1 cup mozzarella finely grated
- 1 egg beaten, divided, see below
- a pinch or two of dried mint
- 2 tablespoon fresh dill finely chopped
- a squeeze of lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 sheets prepared puff pastry defrosted according to package directions, and kept cold in the fridge until ready to fill and prepare
- nigella seeds, sesame seeds, and flaked sea salt for sprinkling (optional although recommended)
Instructions
- Defrost your prepared puff pastry in advance, as directed by the package instructions, and leave in the fridge until ready to use.
- Heat a non-stick pan over low medium heat. Add olive oil, then the green onions. Saute for about 3 minutes until tender.
- Increase the heat to medium, and in the same pan, add finely shredded greens and 1 or 2 teaspoons of water, and sauté until tender, approximately 5 to 10 minutes depending on which greens you are using. Put hardier greens like kale, chard, and mustard greens in first, followed by spinach, if using, for the last 3 or so minutes of the cooking time. Stir occasionally while sauteing, making sure that nothing sticks to the pan and that the greens are cooking evenly. Add salt and pepper to taste, and when greens are tender, move the pan off the heat and reserve until cool.
- While your greens are cooling, set your oven to 400°F and prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Add the shredded and crumbled cheese to a large mixing bowl, followed by about ¾ of the beaten egg (reserving about ¼ of the beaten egg off to the side to glaze the pastry rolls with). Add in the cooled and cooked greens, the dried and fresh herbs, squeeze in some lemon to taste, and mix gently together until you have a vaguely uniform mix.
- Unroll the puff pastry with the paper wrapping it is packaged in - I usually leave it on that paper while I prepare the rolls and I often bake it on that paper too with a silicone mat underneath. If your puff pastry doesn’t come rolled in paper or you don’t want to bake it on the paper it is rolled in, unroll it onto the prepared baking sheet as the filled rolls are hard to move.
- Cut the first rolled out pastry sheet into 4 even sections/rectangles. Take about ⅛th of the greens and cheese mixture and mound it evenly into a log shape onto the middle of one of the sections of pastry. The filling should be spread from top to bottom edge of each section. Repeat until you have all 8 rolls prepared.
- Pull the unfilled side of the pastry to the other edge so that the filling is hidden. Using a pastry brush, glaze the tops of each roll with the reserved beaten egg.
- Using a fork, crimp the edge of the rolls, letting your fork go right up to the edge of the filling. Repeat on all 8 rolls. Sprinkle each roll sparsely with nigella seeds, more thoroughly with sesame seeds, and finish with a light sprinkle of flaked sea salt.
- Put your tray(s) into the oven for 20 minutes, until the rolls are puffed and golden brown. Let stand for 5 minutes and then move to a rack to cool. Eat as soon as you dare !
Notes
If you want to make these rolls completely plant-based, make sure you use puff pastry that is not butter based, omit the egg from the recipe, and use olive oil, unsweetened plant milk, or water to brush over the prepared rolls before baking. Also omit the diary cheese and substitute whatever plant-based cheeses you prefer, in the same quantity as called for in the recipe.