Twelve Days of Irish Recipes: Ruthie's no-sausage rolls
Written by Ciaran on Dec 11, 2025 | 0 Comments
We're sharing one of our own recipes each day as part of our 12 Days of Christmas offers, inspired by that traditional carol and the funny Irish version, Christmas Countdown.
Day 11: Something savoury
We know what you are thinking: after all that food, how could anyone possibly need more? You see, Christmas celebrations here in Ireland can often stretch long into the night. So there’s plenty of time to fit in a little bit of cheese, or something more substantial!
Photo Credit: R. Chadwick
Ruthie makes these sausage rolls for all manner of family get-togethers. She adapted the recipe from one from the Happy Pear, twin chefs from Greystones, just down the road from us here in Sandyford. They are a talented pair who, as it happens, did the food at my wedding many, many years ago! Their no-sausage rolls are vegan-friendly and perfect for a pick-me-up late in the evening. We often have them in our house whenever we have a crowd over, and even ardent carnivores seem to enjoy them, which is always a good sign.
Ingredients
- 1 x pack of ready rolled puff pastry (you can get plant based versions if you want these to be vegan)
- Oil for pastry
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 x 400 g tin of butter or cannellini beans
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 100g of pecans
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 tbsp ground flax seed
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp oregano
Method
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 400°F and line a baking tray with baking parchment.
- Drain and rinse the beans and put them in a food processor with all the ingredients bar the pastry and sesame seeds. Blend until you get a smooth consistency.
- Lay the puff pastry sheet out on the baking parchment and cut it in two equal halves, lengthways.
- Take the filling mix and shape them into two long cylinders around 2 to 3 cm or 1 inch in diameter in the middle of each strip of pastry.
- Wrap the pastry over the cylinder, making a long roll out pastry and making sure the seam is under the roll - and if there is excess pastry that is no problem. Seal the seam with water or oil .
- Brush the two cylinder with oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Cut each roll into bite-sized pieces around 3cm or an inch wide and spread them out on the baking tray
- Bake in a hot oven for 20 mins until the rolls are golden and then remove and leave to cool.
- Serve with ketchup, sweet chilli sauce or whatever dip you fancy.
Bonus late-night snack
I couldn’t help but include one of my favorite snacks of the Christmas season, even though we have shared this "recipe" before. Jane and I often treat ourselves to one of these late on Christmas Eve, finishing off the last preparations before we await the arrival of Dadaí na Nollaig! And given that the crisp sandwich has reached the status of an Irish institution, it would be remiss not to include it!
They are immensely popular not just at Christmas but at Irish weddings, too. This is much to the bemusement of guests from farther afield. A few years ago, Jane and I helped some German guests at a family wedding make their first ever crisp sandwich. They seemed to enjoy it! And they certainly enjoyed watching the glee with which all the Irish guests tucked in!
And it is not just weddings where the crisp sandwich is popular. It's very easy to make and takes just three ingredients. Given that many people have large multipack boxes of crisps at home for the holidays, the crisp sandwich is the ultimate seasonal snack - I'll certainly happily put away one or two over the holidays! Best eaten late into the festivities on Christmas Eve, Christmas night, New Year's, or any time you need a quick pick-me-up!
Ingredients (for one crisp sandwich)
- 2 slices of soft white sliced bread - whatever type you like, so long as it's soft. In Ireland, Brennan's Bread is traditional
- 1 x packet of crisps - cheese and onion crisps are traditional, and there are all-out scraps among people in Ireland over whether it is Tayto Cheese and Onion or King Cheese and Onion that makes the best sandwich. Either will do. If you can't find cheese and onion, sour cream and onion will do in a pinch.
- Irish Butter - Kerrygold or whatever you can get your hands on!
Method
- Give a generous spread of butter on each slice of bread - this will add the moisture, and without it, you are in for a DRY sandwich.
- Open your packet of crisps and carefully pour them onto one of the slices, butter-side up.
- Take the other slice and carefully lower it onto the crisps, butter side down.
- Mash the crisps down a little with your hand, so it all holds together
- Eat!
Below is a controversial clip of Jamie Dornan demonstrating the techniques involved, making his version of a crisp sandwich for Jimmy Kimmel (about 9 mins 50 seconds in if you want to skip).
This clip caused - mostly! - mock outrage in Ireland when it first aired for his use of mayo instead of butter, and the highly irregular addition of ham! But we salute him for making the crisp sandwich his own and sharing this wonder with the world! Good man, Jamie!
What's Next?
Check back in with us tomorrow for our last Day of our Twelve Days of Irish Christmas, or open door number 11 of our 12 Days of Christmas offers! And, of course, if you need any help selecting a gift for yourself or a loved one, please do get in touch.
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Ciaran
My Irish Jeweler
Born in Co. Antrim and reared in Dublin, I was fascinated with Gaelic culture from an early age. I suppose it's not surprising given my mother inherited a grá for the Irish language from my grandfather, an Irish school headmaster. And that grá continues! My brother and sister are now Gaelic teachers here in Ireland, my niece is an award winning Irish dancer, and I proudly work to share Irish culture through our Irish and Celtic Jewelry at My Irish Jeweler!
I love researching and reading about the history of Irish design. It's at the core of what we do here at My Irish Jeweler. I find much of it so interesting that I have to share what I find. I hope you enjoy it!
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