Today’s recipe: how to bake your own gluten free Greggs sausage and bean melts with ready rolled puff pastry, baked beans, extra mature cheddar and sausages. They’re super easy to make, delicious and surprisingly flaky.
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock your entire life, if you live in the UK then it’s safe to say you probably know all about Greggs. This bakery chain is absolutely everywhere, on every high street across the country and one of the first things I noticed when I moved to the UK many years ago. It’s just one of those humble and very British guilty pleasures everyone enjoys from time to time as a grubby snack on the go.
Well, everyone besides the gluten free population! And I know I’m not the only one who was disappointed when Greggs announced that they were releasing some gluten free options… only to come out and say: “SURPRISE, it’s brownies!”… Nice try, but the people who miss Greggs don’t care about brownies. They want pastries and sandwiches… you know, what Greggs is all about! But then again I understand the risks of cross-contamination would be difficult to get around…
So since I constantly hear people mention how much they miss it, I thought it was time to make my own gluten free Greggs style pastries! Starting with some gluten free sausage and bean melts.
P.S.: let me know which pastry you think I should do next in the comments. ?
TIPS:
1. Let the pastry sit outside of the fridge for 5-10 minutes before unrolling it to prevent it from cracking. Note: if it does crack, just smudge it back together as best as you can with your fingers.
2. Don’t skip the thickening process. The beans need to be thick and not runny at all, otherwise the liquid will stop the pastry from puffing up.
3. Don’t overfill the pastries.
4. Don’t skip the egg wash. As well as giving pastries that lovely golden colour, it also helps everything stick together properly.
5. I used Mattesson smoked sausage slices just to speed things up, but normally you’d want to use standard pork sausages for this.
Gluten Free Greggs Sausage & Bean Melts Recipe:
- Gluten free puff pastry (I used Jus-Rol)
- 1 tin of baked beans
- Extra mature cheddar
- 1 or 2 cooked sausages
- 1 egg (to use as egg wash)
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200C (390F).
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Take the puff pastry out of the fridge, out of its packaging and let it sit at room temperature (before unrolling it) for 5-10 minutes while you prepare the filling.
PREPARE THE FILLING:
- Thicken the beans: pour the baked beans into a sauce pan and cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, until the liquid evaporates. Then set aside until they have cooled down completely. You don’t want the beans to be runny at all or the liquid will stop the pastry from puffing up.
- Meanwhile, grate some cheese and slice the sausages.
MAKE THE PASTRIES:
- Gently unroll the pastry and cut into three rectangles.
- Add two tablespoons of thickened baked beans, some cooked sausage slices and grated cheese on one end, leaving room on the sides to seal the pastry. Note: be careful not to overdo the filling or the pastry with break when you try to close it off.
- Fold the pastries in half and gently press all edges down with your fingers to seal the pastries. Then, using a fork, create little dents all along the surface of the edges (but don’t go all the way through the pastry).
- Beat an egg and spread a thin layer all over with a pastry brush (don’t forget the edges).
- Then score the pastries (carefully slice lines across the pastries), but again don’t go all the way through! You don’t want to actually slice an opening; they should just be lines on the surface.
- Bake for 20 mins on the middle shelf.
Enjoy!
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