Carrot, Cheese and Rice Sausage Rolls

These carrot, cheese and rice sausage rolls were made on a whim.  I never thought I would share them.  They was so delicious and so successful that I had to blog the recipe.  For me, a successful recipe is one where Sylvia loves them.  This one is not fancy or innovative.  It is just good simple food.

This is the sort of recipe that makes me think of old-school vegetarians making in the 1970s before we had amazing sausage roll recipes like Liz O'Brien's Sausage Rolls. I really love Liz O'Brien's recipe.  Sylvia doesn't.  This was my attempt to convince a 5 year old to eat sausage rolls.  I filled the pastry with ingredients she loved.

We discussed the ingredients beforehand so she would be on my side.  She was happy with carrot, cheese and rice.  Then I decided it needed tomato paste and wasn't sure whether I should tell her.  I regret to say I didn't.  Sylvia wasn't fooled but she didn't hold it against me.  "I really like the tomato," she told me.

I filled the sausage rolls very generously and had a half sheet of puff pastry leftover.  A slick of vegemite and some thin slices of cheese made cheeseymite rolls.  They were a great success with Sylvia just like the first time I made them.  She seemed to love these cold unlike the sausage rolls.

I would like to claim that every child would love these.  I am sure many would.  However I have a child who loves plain food and rejects so many recipe that are claimed to be child-friendly.  I was quite wary of making these for her.  No doubt the pastry helped, but it is not enough.  The filling has to work too.  Recently I had tried cheese and cauliflower in pastry which resulted in wailing and gnashing of teeth.  I was relieved when she loved the sausage rolls with carrot, cheese and rice. 

While pastry is not the healthiest of snack foods, these are filled with good stuff.  (I would even be interested to try these with a vegan cheese like bio cheese.)  It is easy to make, and would be great for entertainment.  Sylvia didn't want them in her lunchbox because she preferred them warm.  I loved them at room temperature and am sure they would make great lunchbox and picnic food.  They do give me hope that Sylvia will become more adventurous in eating filled pastry.  [Though as I have said before, no one can complain about a child who demands I buy her brussels sprouts!]

I am sending these to Karen for Tea Time Treats at Lavender and Lovage (who alternates hosting with The Hedgecombers).  This month's theme is Cooking and Baking with Vegetables.

More vegetable-based tea time treats from Green Gourmet Giraffe:

Savoury:
Cauliflower, pea and parmesan polenta fingers
Potato parsley stars
Tomatoes stuffed with guacamole
Vegan Party Pies

Sweet:
Chocolate avocado cupcakes
Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudgies (with eggplant)
Pumpkin scones
Zucchini brownie with smoked walnuts

Carrot, Cheese and Rice Sausage Rolls
Makes 12-18

1 cup dry brown rice 
1 and 1/2 carrots, finely grated
150 to 200g cheese, grated*
2 tbsp tomato paste
Seasonings: pinch each of salt and smoked paprika, or to taste
2-3 sheets of puff pastry**
milk for glazing

Simmer brown rice for 30 minutes or until cooked.  Drain.  (I then removed a cup of rice for another recipe but am not sure if this was necessary.)  Mix rice with carrots, cheese and tomato paste.  Add seasonings to taste.

Preheat oven to 220 C and line a couple of oven trays.

Lay out a sheet of (defrosted) pastry and cut in half lengthwise.  Spoon filling along the middle of the length of each piece of pastry.  Brush long edge with a little milk and roll pastry around filling so there is a slight overlap.  Cut into 6 pieces.  Place on a lined oven tray.  Glaze with milk.  Repeat with remaining pastry until you have used up all the filling.

Bake for 10 minutes at 220 C and 10 minutes at 200 C or until golden brown.  (I also baked some at 200 C for 25 minutes.  If you want to reheat later you can baked until a light brown and then reheat for 10 to 15 minutes when ready to eat.)

* I think you could substitute a vegan cheese such as bio cheese here and use vegan puff pastry to make these vegan.  The puff pastry I used was vegan but I haven't tried a vegan cheese here.

** I used 2 and 1/2 sheets of puff pastry but the sausage rolls were a bit overflowing so I would recommend 3 sheets of pastry.

On the Stereo:
Nursery Days: Woody Guthrie