What’s a footy match without a meat pie or sausage roll to keep your energy up while you cheer on the home team? Here’s our starting line-up of footy-friendly snacks.
Bangalow pork sausage rolls with caramelised apple and thyme
Ingredients
10 gm butter
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 Granny Smith apples, cut into 1cm dice
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
4 golden shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tbsp thyme, finely chopped, plus extra to serve
1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
500 gm coarsely minced Bangalow pork (see note)
1 sheet (375 gm) butter puff pastry (see note)
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
To serve: good-quality tomato chutney
Method
Preheat oven to 220C. Heat butter and extra-virgin olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat, add apple and stir occasionally until beginning to colour (3-4 minutes). Scatter over sugar, stir occasionally until caramelised (10-12 minutes), season to taste and set aside to cool.
Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add shallot and garlic, stir occasionally until tender (4-5 minutes), stir through herbs, season to taste and set aside to cool.
Combine pork, apple mixture and shallot mixture in a bowl and season to taste.
Place puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Place half the pork mixture along one long edge, leaving a 1cm border, brush with eggwash and roll to just enclose pork. Cut along edge, press with a fork to seal then cut into three rolls. Place on an oven tray lined with baking paper and repeat with remaining pastry and pork. Brush with egg wash, scatter with thyme and bake until golden and cooked through (15-17 minutes). Serve hot with tomato chutney.
Note If Bangalow pork is unavailable, substitute another good-quality minced pork. We prefer to use Carême puff pastry, which comes in pre-rolled 375gm sheets. If unavailable, substitute another good-quality butter puff pastry.
This recipe is from the November 2011 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.
Pork hot dogs with pickled green papaya
Ingredients
4 thick pork sausages (500gm)
2 tsp olive oil
4 long soft white Vietnamese-style rolls
To serve: aïoli (see note)
2 Lebanese cucumbers, cut into batons
To serve:coriander, thinly sliced spring onion and thinly sliced red birdseye chillies
To serve: sriracha chilli sauce (optional)
Pickled green papaya
180 ml (¾ cup)rice wine vinegar
120 gm caster sugar
1 small green papaya, cut into julienne on a mandolin
Method
For pickled green papaya, stir vinegar, sugar, 120ml water and 1 tsp salt in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves, bring to the simmer. Transfer to a bowl, cool, add papaya, set aside until just pickled (5-10 minutes). Drain.
Meanwhile, heat a char-grill pan over high heat. Brush sausages with oil, prick with a sharp knife and char-grill, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked through (5-7 minutes). Set aside and keep warm.
Cut rolls in half but not all the way through. Spread with aïoli, add sausage, top with pickled papaya, cucumber, spring onion, chilli and coriander. Serve hot with Sriracha chilli sauce.
Note You can make aïoli by adding a little crushed garlic to a good-quality mayonnaise. Alternatively, use a ready-made version, available from select delicatessens.
Meatball Smashes
Ingredients
250 gm each coarsely minced veal shoulder and pork shoulder
2 eggs
1½ slice sday-old sourdough bread, soaked in 125ml milk for 5 minutes
2 tsp good-quality tomato chutney
50 gm finely grated parmesan or pecorino, plus extra to serve
2 tbsp olive oil
For dusting: seasoned plain flour
600 ml tomato passata
2 sourdough baguettes, cut into 8, sliced ¾ through and hollowed out
Method
Combine veal, pork, eggs, bread, chutney and cheese, season to taste and stir to just combine. Roll into 16 balls, place on a tray, cover and refrigerate until firm (30 minutes).
Preheat oven to 180C. Heat oil in a large frying pan, dust meatballs with flour, then fry, turning occasionally, until golden (3-4 minutes). Spread in one layer in a small roasting pan, cover with passata, season to taste, roast until cooked through (15-20 minutes). Place 2 meatballs in each baguette piece, coarsely crush with a fork, spoon over a little sauce, season to taste, scatter with cheese, serve hot.
This recipe is from the September 2011 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.
Lamb kofta with tomato rice and sumac fried onions
Ingredients
500 gm minced lamb
2 white onions, coarsely grated
1 cup each of (loosely packed) flat-leaf parsley and mint leaves, finely chopped
½ tsp each of ground cumin and coriander
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
To serve:warm Arab or Greek-style flat bread
Tomato rice
300 gm (1½ cups) basmati rice
1 kg tomatoes, coarsely grated into a bowl, skins discarded
8 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp whole cardamom
1 tbspolive oil 1 tspwhite sugar
Sumac fried onions
60 ml (¼ cup)extra-virgin olive oil
2 white onions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp sumac
¼ tsp allspice
Method
Combine lamb, onion, herbs and spices in a large bowl, season generously with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix well using your hands. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Divide mixture into 6 and mould each portion into a long sausage shape around a metal skewer. Place on a tray, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
For tomato rice, rinse rice in a sieve under cold running water until water runs clear, transfer to a saucepan, add remaining ingredients and season with sea salt. Add enough water to just cover the rice, bring to the boil over medium heat, stir, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and stand, covered, for 10 minutes before serving.
For sumac fried onions, heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, add remaining ingredients, stir to combine and sauté for 12-15 minutes or until soft and golden. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Preheat a barbecue to medium heat. Drizzle kofta with oil and cook, turning occasionally, for 6-7 minutes. Serve immediately with tomato rice, sumac fried onions and Arab or Greek-style flatbread.
Onion rings with salt and vinegar
Ingredients
3 onions, cut into 1cm-thick rings
250 ml (1 cup) buttermilk
For deep-frying: vegetable oil
For dusting: seasoned plain flour
Vinegar salt
60 ml (¼ cup)white wine vinegar
50 gm sea salt flakes
1½ tsp white peppercorns, coarsely crushed in a mortar and pestle
Lemon-infused vinegar
180 ml white wine vinegar
Thinly peeled rind of ½ lemon
Buttermilk batter
150 gm (1 cup) plain flour
125 ml (½ cup) buttermilk
80 ml beer
Method
For vinegar salt, preheat oven to 180C. Combine vinegar and salt in a small bowl, spread on a baking tray lined with baking paper and cook until crisp and dried (8-10 minutes). Coarsely crumble into flakes, combine with pepper and set aside.
Meanwhile, for lemon-infused vinegar, combine vinegar and lemon rind in a small saucepan, bring to the simmer over medium-high heat, reduce heat to medium and simmer until reduced by half (8-10 minutes), then set aside to cool.
Separate onion into rings, place in a large bowl, add buttermilk, season to taste and mix to combine. Stand for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, for buttermilk batter, place flour in a bowl, season to taste and make a well in centre. Add buttermilk and beer to well, then whisk until smooth and combined. Stand for 30 minutes.
Preheat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 180C. Drain onion (discard buttermilk), dust in seasoned flour, then dip in buttermilk batter, shaking off excess in between. Deep-fry in batches, turning occasionally, until crisp and golden (2-3 minutes; be careful as hot oil may spit). Drain on absorbent paper and serve hot with lemon-infused vinegar and vinegar salt.
