“Menolly had detoured to the Lower Caverns and shared with him the handful of meatrolls she’d cadged from the cooks.”

–Dragonriders of Pern, by Anne McCaffrey

Thoughts:

These are terrible. A curse, in that, so-easy-to-make addictive sort of way. 

I made a single batch, and they were gone in minutes. I couldn’t make out all the words around the mouthfuls, but from the wild gesticulations, and later exhortations to  please make them again, they seemed to be a great success with the test subjects.

You can use whatever variety of sausage you like. I happened to have some wild boar sausages handy, and they suited the recipe admirably. If you can get game sausage of any kind, it’s definitely worth a try, as they help defamiliarize the experience. In any case, the resulting combination of puff pastry (how could you go wrong?) and juicy sausage is a long tried and much loved pairing. The outer pastry shell stays flaky, while the inside soaks up some of the flavorful juices from the meat. 

This recipe also has the added appeal of making small enough meatrolls that they would be snitchable from the kitchens of castle, fortress, or cottage, as Menolly proved in the books. Double win!

Pernese Meatroll Recipe

Prep: 5 minutes          Baking: 20 minutes

Makes 12 rolls (it won’t be enough!)

Ingredients

• 1 lb. package pork sausagemeat
• 1 (17.25 ounce) package frozen puff pastry sheet, thawed
• 1 beaten egg
• poppy or sesame seeds (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Unfold the sheets of puff pastry, and cut lengthwise down the middle. Make five more cuts width-wise so you have 12 long pieces total. Divide the sausage meat evenly between the strips of dough, then seal the ends together with a swipe of egg.

Arrange the sausage rolls on the prepared baking sheet. Brush with egg, and sprinkle with seeds. Bake for around 20 minutes, or until they’re puffed up and a nice golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before serving.