Giant sausage roll

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C fan-forced (200°C conventional).

2. To make the filling, heat oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Cook onion for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft. Add garlic and herb seasoning. Cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Cool.

3. Place bread in a large bowl with milk. Stand for 5 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed.

4. Add cooled onion mixture and remaining stuffing ingredients to bread. Season. Mix well.

5. Cut a 15cm wide strip from 1 sheet of pastry and join to a pastry sheet, overlapping by 2cm (this will create a piece of pastry large enough for the sausage roll). Press down where the pieces overlap to seal. Reserve remaining pastry. 

6. Form a log with the filling and position it lengthways down the middle of the joined pastry sheets. Fold over one side of the pastry and brush with egg. Fold over other side to enclose filling. Transfer roll onto a large tray lined with baking paper. Chill for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat a large oven tray.

7. Meanwhile, cut out gum leaf shapes from reserved pastry (see Cook’s tips, below). Brush with egg, then use a small skewer to mark out veins on each leaf. Arrange 4 gum leaves on top of roll and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Place remaining gum leaves on a separate oven tray lined with baking paper.

8. Transfer sausage roll with baking paper onto preheated oven tray and cook for 50 minutes, or until pastry is golden and crisp. Add tray containing gum leaves for the final 15 minutes. Remove trays from oven.

9. Cut roll into slices. Serve with extra chutney and gum leaves.