Sausage Rolls

Last Friday I got it in my head that I wanted to have finger foods for dinner.  We already had some amazing cheeses we had bought earlier in the week as well as some herring. Having some fresh veggies was easy, but I wanted to try something new.  So many times we have had little get-togethers and made some real duds.  (Salmon spread quickly comes to mind.)  It's always a bit scary to test your new creations on guests so I decided to test something on Joey instead.

I had picked up Half-Baked Gourmet Party Food: Partly Homemade Totally Delicious at a bookstore ages ago and decided I would make something from that.  Since I had Italian sausage and I love making things with crescent roll dough this was the perfect recipe. I made it two ways - one with Italian sausage and provolone and the other with prosciutto and mozzarella. The verdict?  Both were tasty, but I liked the sausage a bit more and Joey liked the prosciutto.  Yay! We were both happy and I felt so Sandra Lee.  I would totally make these again.  They would be perfect for game night (sports or board) and are really easy.  This makes about 40 pieces and, no, we didn't eat all of them. (They do reheat well, though.)

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound Italian sauage
• 1 package (8 ounces) crescent roll dough
• 8 slices provolone cheese

Instructions

Part 1

1. Heat a skillet over medium heat.
2. Remove sausage from casings and crumble into skillet.
3. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink, breaking it up while it cooks.
4. Drain well and let cool completely.

Part 2

1. Unroll pastry but do not separate into triangles.
2. Pinch the perforations together making four rectangles.
3. Sprinkle one fourth of the sausage on each dough rectangle then top each with two slices of cheese.
4. Roll up from long edge and place each roll, seam side down on a sheet of wax paper.
5. Roll up in the paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Part 3

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Bake the rolls on an ungreased baking sheet for about 18 minutes or until golden brown. 
3. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
4. Cut each into 10 pieces.

Variation

Substitute 1 package (4 ounces) thinly sliced prosciutto and 8 thin slices of mozzarella for the sausage and provolone.  Prepare as above.