Both my husband and I are food nerds in our own ways. I’m into baking and he’s into meat. (For the past year he’s been curing his own bacon and once you’ve had that, there’s no going back.) The ultimate dream is to collaborate on some from-scratch charcuterie boards — he’ll provide the sausages and cheeses and I’ll do the breads/crackers/dips. We’ll get there eventually. But in the meantime, these tasty little sausage rolls are a team effort that will be showing up on our appetizer tables for the years to come — he made the sausage, and I wrapped them in pastry.

I’ve made sausage rolls in the past using store bought puff pastry and that works perfectly well. But lately I’ve been into making my own rough puff. I use this pastry recipe for the base and simply add 2-4 turns to the process, resting the pastry in the fridge as needed (for me this is typically for 10 minutes after the initial mixing and after the first two turns). For or this savory application, I reduce the sugar to 1 teaspoon.

Also, the filling is very adaptable — skip the apple if you want and add in some sauteed onion and garlic; and feel free to play with the spices. You can also use regular ground pork, seasoned to taste — in this case I would add a few tablespoons of breadcrumbs and an egg to help bind the mixture together.

Pork and Apple Sausage Rolls

Makes 24 two-bite rolls or 40-48 one-bite canapes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound puff pastry, thawed (1 store bought box or homemade)
• 1 pound pork sausage, casings removed
• 1 baking apple, peeled and finely diced
• 1 scallion, finely diced
• 4 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 egg, whisked with 1 tbsp water
• Flaky salt, to finish (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Mix sausage, apple, and scallion in a medium bowl.
3. In a small bowl, beat egg with 1 tbsp water.
4. Roll out each sheet of puff pastry into a large square or rectangle (about 12″ x 12″ or 9″ x 13″) and cut each in half (for a total of four pieces).
5. Spread a tablespoon of mustard down the center of each rectangle lengthwise.
6. Divide the pork mixture into 4 equal parts and arrange on top of the mustard.
7. Fold the bottom half of the pastry over the meat.
8. Brush the top part of the pastry with egg wash and roll the puff pastry so the seam is facing down. Repeat with the other sheets. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes, or until pastry is firm.
9. Cut each roll into the number of pieces desired (I like 6 per roll for a 2-bite snack — top photo or 10-12 for a one-bite canape — lower left photo). If making larger rolls, cut a couple steam vents on top; if making the one-biters, no vent is needed.
10. Arrange about an inch apart on two parchment-lined baking sheets.
    Brush with remaining egg wash, followed by a pinch of flaky salt if desired.
11. Bake 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway through, or until golden brown and cooked through.
12. Serve warm or cold with ketchup and/or mustard.