I remember walking down a street in Sydney’s Chinatown. It was very crowded, the crowd’s pace moving steadily but slowly. There was a busker to the right that caused a bottleneck so the normally evenly dispersed crowd bunched up. In front of us were two tiny Chinese women that would have been around eighty years old. They were both carrying shopping bags full of food and they were walking by shifting their weight from one foot to another while balancing their bags. I overheard a snippet of their conversation.
In the broadest Australian accent I had heard, one said to another “I bought lamb chops the other day. I got ‘em at a great price and they threw in some snags too. Hong just can’t get enough of them with his fried rice!” It was a voice straight out of Kath & Kim and could have been Kath talking to Kim about Kel’s eating preferences.
I loved this little snippet of conversation so much and my friend and I just smiled at each other thinking that we could just listen to these two ladies all day long musing aloud about East meets West combinations. Which brings me to this combination-while not fusion, it is the combination of a few different Aussie concepts. Vegemite, of course is that Australian salty yeast based spread, a cousin of Promite and Marmite and perhaps other ‘mites that I can’t think of. That salty goodness is tempered by the presence of cheese and it’s all wrapped up in that very Australian lunchtime snack of a sausage roll (always my tuck shop item of choice).
I got the sausages from The Meat Merchant which is a home delivery meat service that supplies cryovaced premium cuts of meat (including a whole or half lamb if you want!). Prices are very reasonable and it’s a little like those deal sites where there is a limited time for an offer and a minimum amount of people have to buy it to activate the deal.
Anyway, back to the sausage rolls. The Vegemite provides the salty umami flavour and the cheese melts in little pockets. Depending on the ferocity of how you like your Vegemite, you can add more or less of it. I balanced it with a little sugar added to it and along with the buttery puff pastry, it became one of my favourite ways to celebrate Australia Day-through food, of course!
So tell me Dear Reader, what do you think of Vegemite? And what is your favourite holiday of the year?
P.S. If you’re looking for other Australia Day ideas here are some:
No knead cheese, onion & beer bread (easy level of difficulty)
Caramel Lamington Map of Australia (medium level of difficulty)
Koala cupcakes (medium level of difficulty)
Carrot cake ice cream (medium level of difficulty)
Lamington Tiramisu (medium level of difficulty)
Vegemite & Cheese Sausage Rolls
An Original Recipe by Not Quite Nigella
Makes twelve large sausage rolls or thirty six party sized ones
- 600g beef sausages (I used The Meat Merchant’s Beef and Rosemary sausages)
- 2 cups grated cheese
- 2 slices white bread, processed
- 1 onion, peeled
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 egg
- 1 -1 1/2 tablespoons Vegemite
- 1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
- Eggwash (1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon milk)
- 3 sheets puff pastry
1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Remove sausage meat from casing and place in a bowl. Process the other ingredients in a food processor (cheese, breadcrumbs, milk, onion, garlic, egg and one tablespoon of the Vegemite), excluding the last two and add to the sausage meat and mix together well. Once it is mixed together, I like to cook a little bit of the mixture in a frypan just to check for seasoning-seasoning in sausage meat varies so check that the Vegemite isn’t too salty and add more if needed. Chill this mixture for ten minutes.
2. Take the puff pastry squares and cut them lengthways to make two rectangles. Divide the mixture into six and roll them into a sausage between wet hands and place in the centre of each rectangle making sure not to overfill. With a pastry brush, brush a little eggwash onto the pastry and seal the sides overlapping them slightly and leaving the seam at the bottom. Repeat with the remainder of the filling and refrigerate for another 10 minutes.
3. Once ready, cut little patterns into the top (or you can add sesame or poppyseeds if you like). Brush with the egg wash. Bake for 20 -25 minutes until golden.
Meat provided by http://themeatmerchant.com.au/sydney
If you enjoyed this post, why not share it with your friends?
What is NQN up to now?
NQN on Facebook
RSS
52 Comments | Add your own
A scrumptious speciality! Very similar to English sausage rolls. I love them!
Cheers,
Rosa
I have been so busy at work the last few weeks, I haven’t had a chance to visit your blog – however, when I saw Vegamite and Cheese Sausage Roll in my email today, I had to put everything on halt! I am a huge ‘mite’ fan whether its vege or marmite….these are definitly going on the top of my ‘to do’ list.They look amazing!
These rolls look fantastic! A good friend of mine is hosting an Australian Day party tomorrow but there definitely won’t be sausage since her boyfriend is vegan. If that wasn’t the case I would definitely bring these!
Happy Australia Day! Just thought I’d say how much I enjoy your blog. I live in Los Angeles but we visit family in Sydney quite often.
They live in Newtown so we really use your recommendations quite often!
Happy Australia Day, Lorraine! These look yummy!
Happy Australia Day, Lorraine. I love how diverse our community is and all that the different cultures contribute. Your description of the elderly ladies’ conversation made me chuckle.
I really love the sound of those sausage rolls! The whole combination sounds drool-worthy
Love your anecdotes Lorraine!
Happy Australia Day and hope everyone enjoys their long weekend.
Australia really does rolls and pies perfectly. They all look so appealing. Not a huge fan of Vegemite or Marmite, but don’t hate them either. They have their places, just not on my toast!
These look and sound great. Perfect for today. I love that we can use premade pastry too as it helps speed up the process. What a great combination of flavours. Happy Australia Day Lorraine
I don’t think I will ever get used to the taste of vegemite haha. Strange as it sounds, my dad used to make vegemite and peanut butter sandwiches which was the only way I would eat it!
I LOVE vegemite. I moved to the States for year and took jars and jars of vegemite with me – couldn’t live without my vegemite toast. These look gorgeous, Lorraine – making my mouth water… xox
I’ve never tasted vegemite but I’m not really sure I’d like to try.
They do look good
I am not much of a fan of sausage rolls but if I went to the trouble of making them for myself I might be more interested. It does look yummy.
Not sure about the Vegemite part but the rest of this sure looks and sounds incredible!
We’re getting dumped on with snow tonight! Time to shovel!
Happy Australia Day NQN! These s/rolls look great. Just discovered your site last night while recovering from BDO and loved your Chow Town post also.
Happy Australia Day to you and Mr NQN! Yes to the barbie comin’ up [prawns and all!] and a couple of glasses of a mellow red. May I pass on both Vegemite and sausage rolls
?
Oh wonderful, I love sausage rolls and yours look delicious!
I used to hate Vegemite, until I tried Cheesymite scrolls from Bakers Delight, and now I love it. I think the cheese/vegemite combo in your sausage rolls would be heavenly.
Happy Australia Day!
i’m so curious about vegemite! great original recipe.
Happy Australia Day Lorraine, TRUE!
Glad I am not the only one who overhears conversations too!
Know it might be sacrilegious to say on Australia Day!
I am not a fan of Vegemite, BUT has to do with the fact I was not born and bred on it and never developed a taste for it okay?
Your rolls look moist, delicious, flaky TRUE!
Am sure any dinky di Aussie would LOVE these today too!
Awesome! Love your even Aussie-r spin on something already Aussie haha! I don’t usually like sausage rolls, because it freaks me out what’s in them! But these look awesome. I want to make my own sausage rolls
Especially in this cold weather. I always enjoy your little stories hehe.
Ooh, I love sausage rolls and these look pretty easy to do. (Would Marmite work as well? It’s all I have on hand!)
Happy Australia Day, Lorraine.
I miss my snacks of cold tofu mashed with vegemite. I want this! Happy Australia Day!
Happy Australia Day Lorraine to you and Mr NQN!!! Vegemite… love it!! Can’t think of anything better than fresh white bread with lashings of butter and vegemite. But then I think it is a taste you have to grow up with to enjoy it as much as we do.
Happy Australia Day! Thanks for all the foodie fun you give me! Your posts are a total joy. But then I’ve told you that before! Luv luv Michael
http://www.michaelolivier.co.za
We don’t get vegemite here but I love Marmite! Dave however only eats bovril
What a grand & festive tasty recipe for your Australian day! Yeah!
Enjoy your festive day, Lorraine!
This is a lovely tasty recipe to try!
xxx
I love eavesdropping on conversations, sausage rolls AND vegemite. What a lovely Aussie Day post!
Happy Australia Day Lorraine! What could be more Australian than Vegemite coupled with a sausage roll?! Well done you, now for a complimentary Australian beer/wine to go with it! I tried to get my Canadian cousin to try Vegemite once he saw the black spread & thought I was trying to feed him shoe polish!! Needless to say he just didn’t understand our refined palate….Aussie Aussie Aussie oi oi oi!!!!
I love sausage rolls and I love vegemite and the combination of the two sounds just strange enough to make me curious! I really want to try these now
I reckon give it a burl with some with dead horse! Grouse tucker mate!
Happy Australia day to all , even the most surprising Aussies. Love your sausage rolls
Happy Australia Day to you. And your sausage rolls looks mighty flaky!
Doesn’t get more Aussie than this my friend happy Australia Day
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
I love vegetarian sausage rolls and wonder if I could adapt them to be vegemite and cheese – such a classic taste combo – love your list of ideas for Australia day – want to make them all. Hope you had a great Australia day
Happy Australia Day and those two little old ladies are the perfect example of a country like Australia’s magical melting pot. And oooh love these sausage rolls! I keep making puff pastry and only use it for sweets. Next time, I’ll definitely try something like this!
What cute little rolls, you can never go wrong with buttery puff pastry!
YUM! These would be a taste sensation! I love vegemite and cheese melted together in a toasty so I am sure adding them to a sausage roll would be amazing also!
Happy Australia Day!
Ooh lovely Lorraine, perfect for ‘astraya’ day! Love it!!
Vegemite’s sidekick, Cheesybite, is my preference. Then you don’t have to add cheese
Please, someone, help!!! Just what is vegemite exactly (or marmite or the other mites)? What’s in it and how is it made? I have no concept of it at all that I can grasp onto. Should I be scared of it???
Best always from snowy Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Happy Australia Day Lorraine! xx
i’ve never tried vegemite, though i’ve heard more negative things about it than positive. i haven’t ruled it out yet, though–i’ll give it a fair shot first.
Cheese and Vegemite are my favourite combo!
I need to show these to Boo…
Strangely I’ve been craving sausage rolls since Friday! I think I’ll have to make them this week because it’s hard to get a good one at a bakery. I love the homemade version. I was a sausage roll tuckshop girl too!
Great summer party holiday food. I tasted vegimite the first time when I met Australians in a youth hostel in Europe. I have never tried it in a recipe. Have to research this
These look delicious! Sausage stands up so well to bold flavors and I bet Vegemite was the perfect accompaniment. Speaking of Vegemite, thank you so much for sending me some! I can’t wait to use it…I was thinking about adding a tad to some kind of beef stew but now I’m tempted to give this a go too, lol.
And I forgot to say, that mini bottle of ketchup is the cutest thing ever!
I always go a sausage roll over a pie (especially back in the day at tuckshop) and I like vegemite but love promite
Hi Lorraine, I’ve been following your blog for some time. I love your reviews, stories and recipes. I only wish that you had a print friendly PDF converter on your site so I could save favourite recipes to my IPad IBooks app. I’m trying to get rid of the million recipe printouts floating around my kitchen!! K
Whoaaa it’s been a while since I heard vegemite. This is definitely something that I need to try, especially when it has sausage. Yum !!!
This looks so delicious!
It’s funny. Australia Day is on my calendar at work and just today we were wondering how Australians celebrate Australia Day. Now I know…they eat!
Post a Comment