Pork and Fennel Sausage Rolls

Once the site for an historic one-room school, there is a tiny little school house nestled in the Oxford Falls Peace Park surrounded by a large tranquil garden. It is here we will celebrate the launch of my second cookbook Our Delicious Adventure - Recipes and Stories of Food and Travel with a delightful afternoon tea.

A little about the book:
Yearning to break with the routine of the everyday, Jane Grover and her family – fisherman husband Mr G and their brave teens – spent a season exploring Australia’s southern coastline from Sydney to Perth and recorded their adventures in delicious, juicy detail.
Enjoying the simple life, they camped under the stars, fished for dinner and cooked on campfires on the beach as they took on this beautiful country.
As a chef and author of best-selling cookbook Naked Food, Jane is always on the lookout for food experiences. Join her as she gathers cockles on the Fleurieu Peninsula, nets blue swimmer crabs in Streaky Bay, savours local raspberries from Albany Farmers’ Market and eats freshly shucked oysters from the shoreline of Bruny Island in Tasmania.
In Our Delicious Adventure – Recipes and Stories of Food and Travel, Jane entertains with the family’s travel adventures and shares more than 75 of her simple, healthy, wholefood recipes designed for health and happiness. Who knows, her travel tales might inspire you to embark on a delicious adventure of your own.

A favourite recipe from the new book:
PORK AND FENNEL SAUSAGE ROLLS
I’m not sure who was the first to think of this wonderful combination of pork and fennel, it’s food genius and works as well as the pairing of pork and apple sauce. These simple to make and delicious to devour sausage rolls won’t last long on anyone’s kitchen table.

makes 40 bite-sized rolls
(or 16 meal-sized rolls)
what you need
3 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp ground paprika
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
200g celery, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp thyme leaves
800g pork mince
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp sea salt
½ cup (60g) dry breadcrumbs or rice crumbs
4 sheets ready-made butter puff pastry
¼ cup (60ml) milk for glazing
2 tbsp fennel seeds, extra
2 tbsp sesame seeds, extra
tomato chutney or tomato sauce, to serve
(see below)
what you do
1. Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan forced) and line 2 large baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
2. Place the fennel and cumin seeds into a dry frying pan. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, tossing frequently, until toasted and fragrant. Cool slightly, then grind the seeds, pepper and paprika in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.
3. Heat oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add onion and celery cook for 10 minutes until soft and mushy, then add the garlic and thyme and cook a further 1 minute. Allow to cool.
4. In a large bowl, combine the pork mince, ground spices, onion mixture, eggs, sea salt and crumbs. Use your hands to mix thoroughly.
5. Cut the pastry sheets in half and divide the pork mixture into 8 equal portions. Using wet hands, roll each portion into a long sausage shape and place into the centre of each piece of pastry. Fold the edges of the pastry over and overlap slightly to enclose the filling.
6. Place the sausage rolls onto the prepared trays, seam-side-down. Using a sharp serrated knife cut each roll in half or into 5 smaller pieces. Brush with milk to glaze and generously sprinkle with the extra fennel seeds and sesame seeds. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Serve hot with your favourite tomato chutney or tomato sauce.

GF option: Use gluten-free pastry, and rice crumbs instead of breadcrumbs.

Note: Rice crumbs are a natural, gluten-free alternative to using wheat breadcrumbs, they are available from health or organic stores or your local supermarket.

fennel is from the celery family and its bulb, foliage and seeds are typically used for both culinary enjoyment and medicinal benefits. The plant’s delicately flavoured leaves are similar in shape to those of dill. Dried fennel seed is an aniseed-flavoured aromatic spice, which is brown or green when fresh, turning a dull grey as the seed ages. The bulb itself is a crisp vegetable with a subtle aniseed flavour and can be braised, stewed, sautéed, grilled and even consumed raw. Fennel seeds are a key ingredient in the making of Italian sausage.

TOMATO SAUCE
This is a rich, flavoursome tomato sauce, the perfect alternative to store bought sauce or ketchup. It will match perfectly with sausage rolls, meat pies, spread on a classic beef burger or dolloped in a crispy bacon sandwich.

makes 600ml
V GF
what you need
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
2 celery sticks, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, grated
200g tomatoes, quartered, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp honey
handful of thyme leaves
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground white pepper
400g can diced tomato
what you do
1. In a large saucepan on a medium heat, heat the oil and sauté the onion, carrot and celery for 3-5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and fresh tomato and cook for a further 5 minutes with the lid on.
2. Add the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, honey, thyme, salt, pepper and canned tomato. Cook for a further 10 minutes with the lid on. Remove the lid and cook for a further 15 minutes stirring regularly to prevent the sauce from sticking and burning.
4. Allow the sauce to cool. Puree with a stick blender, or in a blender or food processor. Transfer to a glass jar.
Storage: Tomato sauce will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Local retailers are now stocking Our Delicious Adventure 
You can grab a copy at Avalons Organics, Little Paper Lane Shop, The Lost and Found Department, The Source Bulk Foods (Willoughby and Crows Nest), Tongue Teasers Gourmet Delicatessen, Warriewood Health Shop, Berkelouw Books and many more very soon.  


A little about the Sydney launch party:
Join Jane Grover in conversation with our special guest Barbara Sweeney. Barbara is a Sydney-based food writer. She is also the founder of Food and Words - a delightful annual food writers’ festival and the Talking Cookbook at Carriageworks Farmers Market. Simply put, she has a thing for food and books.
A scrumptious afternoon tea of my pork and fennel sausage rolls, chicken sandwiches made by my mum and decadent Flour and Stone lamingtons, with fabulous live music, a champagne toast and book signing by Jane. We'd love you to join us Saturday 3rd September 2.30pm - 4.30pm 
Limited tickets $25 can be purchased here