Puff pastry rolls with salsiccia, mature havarti and hot honey – Salsiccia Rolls.

Puff pastry rolls with salsiccia and havarti – or Salsiccia Rolls, as I also call them. These little crisp bites are honestly some of the most delicious things I know. Crisp, golden puff pastry filled with juicy salsiccia, mature havarti and a creamy cream cheese spread with wholegrain mustard and fresh chives. They are then topped with warm hot honey, which gives the loveliest combination of sweetness and a little heat. Really, really good.

I love small appetisers like these that look inviting and taste special, yet are actually very easy to make. And these puff pastry rolls are exactly that kind of recipe. They take very little work, but the combination of the crisp pastry, the spiced sausage meat and the melted cheese is simply wonderful.

I start by making the hot honey, so it is ready when the rolls are to be served. It can happily sit over the very lowest heat in the meantime, and just before serving I stir in freshly chopped chives. That adds a lovely freshness to the sweet, mildly spicy honey.

Next I mix cream cheese with wholegrain mustard, chives and a little of the hot honey. I season the mixture with salt and freshly ground pepper, and then it is ready for the pastry. The creamy cream cheese and the slightly sharp mustard go really well with the spiced salsiccia and the full-flavoured mature havarti.

I unroll the puff pastry and cut it in half lengthways, so I have two long rectangles. Both pieces are spread with the cream cheese mixture, and then I scatter grated mature havarti down the middle. I remove the skins from the salsiccia sausages, loosen the meat a little between my fingers and spread it on top of the cheese.

Then the pastry just needs to be rolled tightly around the filling and cut into small pieces. I cut each roll into 12 pieces, which gives me 24 small puff pastry rolls in total. I like to place them in a lightly oiled mini muffin tin, where they get a gentle press on top before being brushed with melted butter and baked crisp and golden in the oven. If you do not have a mini muffin tin, you can easily bake them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. You can also brush them with beaten egg instead of butter.

A little tip: Make sure you roll the pastry firmly and tightly around the filling. The salsiccia meat shrinks a little during baking, and if the rolls are too loose, the filling can more easily fall out when you lift them. Rolling them tightly gives you neat little bites that are easier to serve and eat.

When the rolls come out of the oven, I let them rest for a moment so the filling can settle. Then I arrange them on a platter and top with the warm hot honey and a little extra freshly chopped chives. And then they are ready to serve.

Puff pastry rolls with salsiccia – perfect as an appetiser

These little Salsiccia Rolls are perfect as an appetiser when you have guests. They also work beautifully as a small snack with a glass of wine, on a tapas table or as part of a buffet where you want to serve something that is easy to eat standing up.

I would, however, really recommend that you serve them warm. That is when the pastry is wonderfully crisp, the cheese is soft and melting, and the flavour of the salsiccia comes into its own. Cold puff pastry can quickly become a little dull, and these little bites deserve to be served at their very best.

Can the puff pastry rolls be made in advance?

Yes, luckily they can. You can easily make the rolls in advance and warm them in the oven just before serving. That makes them an obvious choice when you have guests coming and want as much as possible ready well ahead of time.

I would recommend warming them in the oven rather than serving them cold, so the pastry becomes crisp and inviting again. Wait to top them with hot honey and fresh chives until they are about to be served.

If the filling comes loose when you take the rolls out of the tin, you can slide a fork under each roll to hold the filling in place while you lift it. Once they have been allowed to cool slightly, the filling sets and they are much easier to handle.

An easy and truly delicious appetiser with crisp puff pastry, spiced salsiccia, mature havarti and the loveliest hot honey. The perfect little bite when you want something extra special on the table – and the kind you simply cannot eat just one of.