Cheese and Onions Rolls
Using simple store cupboard ingredients, these Cheese and Onion Rolls are packed with tasty savoury flavours. Encased in a peppery and mustard flaky pastry, the zingy mature cheddar and potato filling has undertones of onion, garlic and thyme.
Servings: 20 rolls
Calories:
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Alter quantities (metric only) 20 rolls
Here's what you'll need...
- Food processor optional, recipe as can be made by hand
- Small saucepan
- Potato masher
Ingredients you'll need...
Savoury Pastry
- 280 g Plain flour
- 40 g Wholemeal flour or increase plain flour to 240 grams
- ¼ teaspoon Fine salt
- ¼ teaspoon Cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds ground in a pestle and mortar
- 100 g Unsalted butter cold from the fridge
- 60 g Lard cold from the fridge (you can replace the lard with butter if you prefer)
- 4 tablespoon Very cold water
Cheese and Onion Filling
- 350 g Cooked Maris Piper potatoes any floury potato will be fine - keep the skin on and chop into cubes of about 2-3 cm
- 1 teaspoon Dried thyme
- 230 g Extra mature cheddar coarsely grated - you can use mature cheddar
- 1 teaspoon Onion granules
- 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds ground in a pestle and mortar
- ½ teaspoon Garlic granules
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoon Nigella seeds or sesame seeds (both optional)
- 1 Egg for the eggwash - or you can use milk
Here's what we do...
Savoury Pastry
- Sift your plain flour, wholemeal flour, salt and cayenne pepper together into your mixing bowl. You'll find the husky bits of the wholemeal flour don't go through the sieve so just tip them in and mix.
- Stir in your ground mustard seeds and then, if using, add to your food processor with the blade attachment fitted.
- Dot over your cubed cold butter and cold lard and then pulse your food processor until the mixture is sand-like. Give the mixture a shake now and then to ensure the dry ingredients from the base are fully incorporated. If not using a food processor simply rub the lard and butter into the flour with your fingertips.
- Add your cold water and pulse again until the mixture just starts to clump into larger lumps but some dry mixture still remains. Then tip out onto your work surface and bring everything together into a ball. Press together until solid but do not knead.
- Flatten into a rectangle shape about an inch deep, cover in cling film (plastic wrap) and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes whilst you make your filling.
Cheese and Onion Filling
- Heat your oven to 170°C Fan/190°C/375°F/Gas mark 5 and line your large baking tray with greaseproof (parchment) paper.
- Give your cubed potatoes a rinse in cold water to remove excess starch and then add to your saucepan, fill with cold water and mix in your dried thyme.
- Bring to a rolling boil and simmer until cooked, this usually takes about 20 minutes.
- Drain using your fine mesh sieve to retrain the thyme along with the potatoes and then put the potatoes and thyme into a bowl to cool. Once cool chop into small pieces.
- Mix in your grated cheese, ground mustard seeds, onion granules and garlic granules.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. I found about 5 turns of my standard sized salt grinder and 20 of my pepper were enough.
- Mix well to be sure all of the ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Remove your pastry from the fridge and split into two equal halves. Put one aside for now and, on a lightly floured surface, roll the other out to a size of 40cm x 15cm.
- Take half of your cheese and onion roll mixture and spread it along the centre of one of your rectangles of pastry.
- Lightly beat your egg, then using your pastry brush, spread some over the edges of two long sides of pastry.
- Pull the edge of the pastry furthest away from you over the filling and secure to the other long side. Press the edges of the pastry together with a fork to secure and then gently roll the whole thing over so that it sits neatly on top of the secured edge.
- Paint over more of the beaten egg so that your cheese and onions rolls have a glazed finish and then cut in 2 inch rolls. Push any filling that spills out back into the rolls.
- Place the cheese and onion rolls onto your lined baking tray, ensuring a space of about an inch around them and sprinkle over nigella seeds if using.
- Repeat with your other rectangle of pastry.
- Refrigerate for 15 minutes and then bake for 35-40 minutes in the centre of your oven until golden on top and on the base. If any filling has seeped out a little just gently push it back in to give a tidy finish.
- Remove to a cooling rack to cool.
- Enjoy either warm, reheated or cold - try with a sweet chill sauce as a tip, chutney or pickle. Heaven!
Supporting Notes
Savoury pastry tips
Pulse rather your food processor to mix the dough because this stops it sticking to the base and you can control the mixing process. Stop and shake the dry mixture from the base of the bowl at regular intervals. I also use a spatula so I can keep pulling the dry mixture up into the rest of the dough. Add your water cautiously a avoid the dough become too sticky. Keep stopping and checking the process as you pulse the food processor and once it starts to form large balls remove. You don't' need to wait for all of the dry mixture to be incorporated first.Cheese and Onion Filling tips
Use level teaspoons to ensure that you do not add more of the onion and garlic granules than are needed. They have quite powerful flavours and you don't want them to overpower the tasty cheese filling. Use extra mature cheddar if you can, the more flavour your cheese ahs the better tasting you Cheese and Onion Rolls will be. Use only a drop of milk to mash your potatoes because if the filling is too wet it will seep out of your baked rolls.Make Your own Notes on this Recipe here...
