Round two of the rough puff challenge, and after last week's abysmal attempt at mastering galette des rois it was time to see how the two lard pastries held up when pitted against something savoury. For the comparison at first I that thought pies might be a nice option but then decided sausage rolls would actually highlight the pastry better, and so settled on Bourke Street's lamb, harissa and almond version, as they put everything into these sausage rolls that I wouldn't.

For the filling, a mountain of capsicum was first reduced into a rich red harissa paste and then combined with the unusual suspects in lamb, couscous, toasted almonds and currants. Blanketed in pastry the rolls then headed off to the oven and it was soon time to see how the two puffs had faired.

As before, the all-lard pastry (left) was slightly more difficult to roll, but it did hold it's shape better and scored that little higher when it came to the pigeon test. While it didn't puff as much as the half-butter-half-lard version (right), which also had a much smoother finish, the layering was far more defined and so it did have the appearance of being much flakier. Both performed well after a week in the freezer, and all up I felt that both were much better suited to a savoury application.

In the end it was difficult picking a favourite as there wasn't a great deal of difference between the two, but the real winner on the day turned out to be the filling. The already flavourful lamb was enhanced by the sweetness of capsicum and heat of the chilli, and with the occasional almond coriander crunch or sweet currant burst it was a really interesting and delectable lunchtime treat. For such a simple combination there was a lot going on, and even though it seemed weird at first it worked, and did so very well.

Quite yummy really.