Name: Nigerian Sausage Roll
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 40 min
Ingredients: Easy pie dough; sausage meat/sausage links/hot dog*; seasoning; egg

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Nigerian sausage roll is a snack of seasoned sausage meat wrapped in dough. The Sausage roll is common in countries with a British influence like Nigeria. It is so popular in Nigeria, that every eatery or fast food restaurant must include sausage roll on its menu. Freshly baked sausage roll should be soft and golden with well-seasoned sausage meat inside.

The quantity and quality of both dough and filling are as varied as the restaurants. You can get Nigerian sausage rolls with hard, rubbery, buttery, crumbly or flaky dough. The fillings of some sausage rolls are thick and robust, full of flavour while others have a streak of sausage meat painted inside the dough or at best a stringy piece of sausage filling. Another variety is the sausage roll that has sausage meat at both ends of the roll leaving most of the middle empty. When I was little, I would always deconstruct my sausage roll, eat the dough first then eat the sausage inside.

There are different commercial brands of packaged sausage rolls in Nigeria. They are very popular and are sold in supermarkets, open markets, street kiosks, commercial motor parks and by street vendors, an example is Gala®. They have saved me from sure starvation during traffic jams. Usually, they are washed down with a chilled cola drink or apple drink all sold by street vendors.

The Meat

You can use sausage meat, sausage links or hot dog to make your Nigerian sausage rolls. The most popular is beef sausages but you can also use pork, chicken, turkey etc. Some sausages are sold already spiced, you won’t need to spice those ones but most will have at least salt in them. You will need to spice your sausage meat which is part of what makes homemade sausage rolls exciting because you can season it to suit your taste. Hotdogs are used just the way they are packaged.

hot dog for Nigerian sausage roll — Hot dogs

Making Pie dough can be a pain and a lot of people shy away from pastry making because of the dough, so I have made a comprehensive post on Easy pie dough. There are lots of tips addressing most of the pitfalls and problems encountered in pie dough making. It is unbelievably easy and straightforward. Follow the instructions and tips and your pie dough will be exceptional time and time again.

Some seasoning suggestions for Sausage meat

seasoning cube
chili powder
thyme 
garlic powder
onion powder
ginger powder
finely diced garlic or onions
tomato paste
mixed herbs 
ground nutmeg
black or white pepper
cheese
caramelised onions 
spring onions etc.

To make Nigerian Sausage Roll

Easy pie dough
sausage meat/sausage links/hot dog*
seasoning 
egg

* I used seasoned sausage links so I didn’t need to season them again.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper, brown paper or aluminium foil. Set aside.

Break the egg into a small bowl add 1 teaspoon water or a pinch of salt and beat, set aside for egg wash.

Preheat oven to 180 deg. C

In a bowl, put sausage meat. If using encased (thin wrapping) sausages remove the casing.

Add your seasonings.

Using your hands or food processor, mix everything together.

Roll out the pie dough into a long rectangle, wide enough to encase your sausage.

Lightly flour palms and roll sausage into a long cylinder or use a piping bag and pipe sausage in the middle of the dough.

If using hot dogs especially canned hot dogs, drain, dry and lay them in the middle of the rolled out dough.

Nigerian sausage roll 1 18 Nigerian Sausage Roll — sausage

hot dog laid on dough to be wrapped — Hot dog

Brush your egg wash along the edges of the dough, fold dough along the long edge over the sausage so that the two long sides meet.

Using the tines of a fork, press along the edge to crimp and seal the sausage roll.

You can also, fold the long side over and to the edge of the sausage, give it a second roll placing the seam side down.

Cut the long sausage roll into desired lengths and transfer to the prepared tray.

You can cut slashes on top of each roll.

Brush with beaten egg.

Put into the oven for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.

Serve and enjoy your Nigerian sausage roll with a dip of ketchup or Cashew nut butter and a drink. Try my zobo, refreshing cucumber agua fresca, Cashew fruit juice, Kunnu aya (Tiger nut drink), Lemonade or Iced-tea.

Notes

If using good quality seasoned sausages, do not bother to season further.
Add finely ground breadcrumbs to your sausage meat to bulk it up and if doing this, increase your seasoning.
If the sausage mix is too soft, pop it in the refrigerator to chill and firm up a little before placing on your dough.
When using sausage links wrapped in casings, the transparent skin on sausages, remove the skin before using. You need to do this when the sausage is still ice cold. Use a pair of scissors, snip the wrap and peel off.
If you don’t have a piping bag for piping the sausage onto the dough, you can use a strong freezer bag. Fill it with sausage meat, snip off a corner and squeeze meat through it.
Making slashes on top of the sausage roll before cooking, helps the meat cook evenly and allows steam to escape so you don’t end up with a soggy crust, especially if you are making large-sized rolls.
Consider the thickness of the sausage roll you are making when rolling out your dough. It should be wide enough to cover the sausage and leave enough extra dough for crimping or for giving a partial second roll.
The Nigerian sausage roll can be made in different sizes. Tiny for a cocktail, medium-sized for picnics and large ones are good for dinner or lunch boxes.
Puff pastry is used in some places but for the Nigerian sausage roll, the dough used is more of a shortcrust pastry. See my Easy pie dough.
Here is my Easy pie dough recipe which can also be used for Nigerian meat pie, Nigerian fish Pie, Chicken Pie, Easy Apple Hand Pie, Nigerian Cornish Pasty and Nigerian Vegetable pie.
Store unbaked sausage roll in the freezer and bake from frozen, just add an extra 5-10 minutes to the original baking time.