Flaky Puff Pastry Rolls With Portuguese Alheira Sausage

If you’ve never heard of alheira, let me introduce you to one of Portugal’s most beloved sausages. Alheira de Mirandela is a smoked sausage from the northeast of Portugal, traditionally made with a mix of meats, bread, and plenty of garlic and paprika. It’s already packed with flavor right out of the casing, which means you barely need to do anything to it, and that’s exactly the kind of cooking I’m here for.

This is one of those magical 5-ingredient recipes where the simplicity is the whole point. I was originally thinking about going all out with onions, garlic, peppers, the works, but then I caught myself, alheira already brings all of that to the table. It’s seasoned, it’s smoky, it’s savory, and it just works. A little puff pastry, a little parmesan, and you’ve got something that looks impressively fancy but took almost no effort to pull off.

These little guys are perfect for Easter, a party spread, or honestly just a lazy Sunday snack situation. Roll them up into mini croissant shapes and people will think you spent way more time in the kitchen than you actually did. That’s the goal, right?

Flaky Puff Pastry Rolls With Portuguese Alheira Sausage

Servings: 16
Time: 30mins
Difficulty: Easy
Rating: ★★★★★
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Gotta love these crispy puff pastry hand pastries with portuguese alheira sausage, they are just some lovely crispy yummy morsels ;D

Ingredients

Puff Pastry – 1 roll (Round Shape)
Alheira Sausage – 1 (Mirandela-style Sausage)
Parmesan Cheese – To Taste (Grated)
Egg – 1 (For Brushing)
Sesame Seeds – To Taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200ºC (392°F or the temperature recommended on the puff pastry package) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Unroll the puff pastry and cut it into 16 triangles. Remove the skin from the sausage and spread the filling over the pastry (this type of sausage has a very spreadable filling), making sure not to put too much in the center. Grate some Parmesan cheese on top.
Roll each piece, starting from the thickest part and working towards the center to create a croissant-like shape. Place them on the lined baking sheet. Repeat until you have no more pastry.

Whisk the egg and brush each pastry with it. Sprinkle with a pinch of sesame seeds. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown and fluffy. Enjoy!

Notes & Tips: You can absolutely stuff these with more things, roasted peppers, mushrooms, or a harder melting cheese like gruyère or aged cheddar all work great alongside the alheira.

These are a total party win. They’re bite-sized, they look great on a platter, and the best part is you can make all 16 in one single go without breaking a sweat. Double the recipe and you’ve got 32 pastries for basically the same amount of effort.

My seasoning here is pretty standard since I was making these for a mixed crowd, but if these are going to adults only, don’t be shy with the heat. A pinch of smoked chili flakes or a little harissa spread under the alheira filling will take these to a whole other level.

Make sure you don’t overload the filling, especially near the tip of the triangle. Too much filling makes them hard to roll and they’ll burst open in the oven. A thin, even layer is your best friend here.

These are best eaten warm, fresh out of the oven, but they reheat really well in an air fryer for a couple of minutes if you want to prep them ahead of time.

This recipe for Flaky Puff Pastry Rolls With Portuguese Alheira Sausage was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Mini Croissants Salgados de Alheira foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.