Easy Dutch Sausage Bread (Saucijzenbroodjes)

Easy Dutch Sausage Bread (Saucijzenbroodjes)

Dutch Sausage BreadsMy guy is Dutch and every time we go to Holland (okay, The Netherlands), the one food item he has to have right away is a warm Dutch sausage bread, also known as Saucijzenbroodjes in Dutch. Every bakery and grocery store there sells Saucijzenbroodjes and they’re just as the name sounds – sausage stuffed into bread. My Mother-In-Law’s boyfriend usually brings a brown bag full of them each morning and it’s a quick way to get my hubby out of bed.

I’ve been looking for a recipe for Dutch Sausage Bread and didn’t want to have to make my own dough, so found a recipe that uses puff pastry. The sausage mix comes together very quickly – think meatballs – and gets shaped in long meat “snakes” that are then rolled in the defrosted puff pastry and baked.

These Saucijzenbroodjes reheat really well in the oven or, as we do, in the toaster oven for a quick breakfast. After baking them, I let them cool completely then place in storage containers in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Dutch Sausage Bread would be great when family is in town for the holidays as you could make them a couple days in advance and simply reheat them in the morning.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 Tbsp. milk
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
  • ½ tsp. freshly ground pepper
  • ½ cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 4 sheets puff pastry, thawed (I use two 17.3-ounce boxes of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets).
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp. milk

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
  2. Carefully unfold the pastry sheets. Lengthwise, cut each rectangular sheet in half to create 8 separate sheets (see photo).
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine first 8 ingredients – don’t overmix to keep the mixture tender and moist. Divide into 8 equal portions.
  4. Roll each of the 8 portions of meat into long snakes and place across the middle of each of the 8 puff pastry rectangles (see photo). Fold each pastry sheet around its meat “sausage” and, using wet fingers, pinch the top and bottom edges together, enclosing the sausage. Note that if you end up with excess pastry when you pinch both ends, you can cut some off (I had to do this). Cut each of the 8 rolls into 4 equal sized portions, for a total of 32 sausage breads.
  5. Beat egg yolk with milk and brush egg mixture over the breads.
  6. Place the sausage breads onto the parchment-lined baking sheets and bake for 20-25 minutes or until pastry is crisp and golden brown (mine took 25 minutes).

Adapted from this recipe.

What on Earth is Hutspot?

What on Earth is Hutspot?

Hutspot is a traditional Dutch dish whose meaning, loosely translated, is “mash pot”.  It is a combination of potatoes mashed with other widely available vegetables, onion and bacon.  Some of the traditionally used vegetables are carrots, endive, kale, spinach and turnip greens (this dish made with greens is called Stamppot). This popular side dish is typically paired with meat to create a hearty meal worthy of cool, rainy Dutch Winter days.  Trinetty and Jac, my guys’ Dutch mom and her better half, provided a recipe that I have made some slight tweaks to and I’m thrilled to share it.

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into one-inch pieces
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into one-inch pieces
  • 4 tbsp butter, separated
  • 2 large shallots, finely sliced
  • 5 bacon slices, thick cut
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • Salt and pepper

Directions:

  1. In a large saucepan, cover the potatoes and carrots with water then boil them until tender, 10-15 minutes.
  2. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a medium frying pan then sauté the shallots over medium heat until softened and slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
  3. In a large frying pan, cook the bacon for about 10 minutes over medium heat until browned and slightly crispy.  Remove bacon from the pan and drain over paper towels – reserve bacon fat.
  4. Place the cooked potatoes and carrots in a large bowl and whip them using a hand mixer over medium speed for about 3 minutes – mixture will still be a bit lumpy.  Add the milk, the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and the salt and pepper, mixing well to incorporate.
  5. Chop the cooked bacon into bite-size pieces.  Add half the bacon to the mashed potato mixture and stir to incorporate.
  6. To serve, spoon half the mashed potatoes into a bowl, create a well in the potato mixture, add 1 teaspoon of bacon fat to the well then sprinkle half the remaining bacon pieces over the dish.  Repeat with the second portion.

Makes two generous servings.