I have a confession to make. I am a total photo-idea-stealer. I look through cookbooks and magazines, and I’m smitten with the beautiful photos. And then if I go to make the recipe, a lot of times, I completely copy the styling from those magazines and cookbooks. Granted, mine never end up looking the same or even half as good. I’m sure some of you have seen some of my pictures before and thought to yourself – that looks familiar. It’s because I’m a total copy cat. And now that I’ve confessed, I can continue on, not feeling quite so guilty. After all, it’s a form of flattery, isn’t it??
The picture of these sausage rolls caught my eye as I was looking through this month’s cookbook of the month – Donna Hay’s Modern Classics Book 1. And I knew it would be one I would made when I remembered that I had a sheet of puff pastry in my freezer. In fact, I didn’t have to buy one thing for these rolls – all of the ingredients came from my freezer or my pantry.
The original recipe makes 18 rolls. I’ve adapted it below for what I had on hand, and got 6 rolls. I think 2 of these would be perfect dinner size portion, although I’m a glutton these days and I ate 3! (Pregnant women get to do that, right??) I actually think these would make a great appetizer if you cut them smaller. And the only thing I can think that would improve these would be to maybe add some cheese to the filling. Mozzarella or Parmesan would be especially nice.
I know many of you are trying to stay away from anything made on the stove top or in the oven, and this recipe uses both, but the great thing is that I only had one pan for clean up! Since the baking sheet is lined with parchment paper, clean up was as simple as cleaning the one pan I used for the sausage. I’d rather have the stove or the oven on for a few minutes than have to clean up a bunch of dishes!!
Sausage Rolls
adapted from Modern Classics Book 1
Makes 6 rolls
1/2 pound sausage
1 egg
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs
2-3 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste
1 sheet puff pastry
sesame seeds
Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Break up the sausage and fully cook. Add in breadcrumbs, Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Crack egg into a small bowl and use a fork to mix. Add half of the egg to the sausage mixture and mix all ingredients completely.
Lay out sheet of puff pastry. (Sheet should be approximately 5 inches x 10 inches.) Cut into 2 strips, each 2 1/2 inches x 10 inches. Take half of the sausage mixture and put down the middle of one strip. Use the other half of the sausage mixture for the second strip. Roll each strip into a roll, then cut each piece into 3 pieces. Place each piece on the baking tray.
Brush each roll with the remaining egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through.
Lovely photos! I love the pictures in cookbooks too. I haven’t every tried to imitate the set-up, but your pictures look beautiful. My hubby would love these!
Oh yum I want one of these now!
As for stealing pictures ideas, really there are only so many ways to photograph food so I say get ideas where you can!
Ok, those look soooo good – who cares where you got the idea for the composition? 🙂
And, yes, pregnant women are allowed to indulge a bit more than usual… I know I did both times! 🙂
I think your photos always look lovely. And I think it’s brilliant of you to try and emulate food stylists.
My sister and her family are all coming into town for the night and I think you have just provided the perfect late night snack for when they get here! Thanks!
I think we all copy the style from one place or another. I like to copy my fellow foodie photo style when I like their pix :-p And those rolls look just amazing. Perfect for a wine party, don’t you think? :-p
Your sausage rolls look very noble and sophisticated, which is not what people usually expect from sausage rolls. I like that 😉
Donna Hay definitely has some gorgeous photos worth copying, her books always look so good!
I love that picture!
And those look very delicious.
Imitation is a form of flattery, right? Your photo looks terrific, and just as Donna Hay inspired you, you’ve now inspired me! (Let’s hum the circle of life, here!) This is a great recipe, and the easy clean up makes it a winner in my book. Yum!
I do look to magazines for photography ideas too. I just love to snatch one of those sausage rolls…they look so yummy!
Deborah, those have to be the prettiest sausage rolls i’ve seen :-)…hope you’re enjoying the experiences of your pregnancy 🙂
MMmmmmm….sausage! This would be great for a cocktail party for sure. I think we all get inspiration from each other, as far as photos go. There are only so many angles to shoot from. Love the blog!
Those look like a really tasty appetizer!
These are so cute :). I do the same thing with pictures…but what really irks me is when I just can’t get the lighting right :P! Yours look very magazine-like!
These look delicious, and who care’s if your a photo copy cat….your not the only one! 🙂
These sausage rolls look gorgeous! Copied or not copied, I’ll eat *YOUR* sausage rolls any day.
I had my oven cranked up to 500 today so no worries! These look wonderful…little bites of heaven! Real foodies aren’t afraid of the oven in the summer!
Sweetie–you aren’t stealing ideas, you are simply inspired and learning from examples of beautiful photographic works and putting what you see into your own work.
Love sausage rolls…I’ve been known to make a meal of them.
j
Oh do those sausage rolls look tasty!!!
I know my friends and family would appreciate me if I made these! They look really good!
I love anything wrapped in puff pastry (well…just about anything). These look really yummy! And the addition of cheese would definitely make them even tastier.
I dont blame you eating three od these! They look incredible.
What a great appetizer…my hubby is salivating.
If it takes a little reading to get inspired… who’s really going to care? Great photo!
Cute! I love the sounds of these, what’s not to love about sausage and rolls! mmmmm! Have a great Monday!
I’m guilty of photo-idea-stealing too. How can you not? I have found though that sometimes my pics actually turn out better than those that I was copying. Take that food photogs!!
I’m always looking for new little appetizer ideas so these look terrific!
Donna Hay’s photos are always amazing! I love looking through cookbooks for the photos!
Deb, that photo looks wonderful! And I think we all like searching for inspiration on books and magazines. Don’t feel bad about that. 😉
These rolls look amazing – I’m glad to find out you are enjoying the book!
I totally thought you copied and pasted pics from maybe an internet site of the foods. They are great photos. You are an awesome copy cat.
All of your pictures make me want to learn how to cook.
This is like the National Food of this country. It is like Utah’s Jello!
Oh these sausage rolls look delish..my sister had a craving for sausage rolls during her pregnancy ;o)
Maria
x
Ooo yum I’d like to try making these with veggie sausages!
Oh yummy I can smell and taste those wonderful sausage rolls from here!! I have such a weakness for warm sausage rolls and yours look so delish 🙂
Rosie x
My boyfriend just looked over my shoulder and said “ohhh those look good”. So I think I am going to be making them soon.
Oh my gosh, these look so delicious!! The photo is great, and you know, I'd be willing to bet that those food stylists who inspire you have "borrowed" an idea here and there from their peers anyways.