Ina Garten on the Barefoot Contessa makes cinnamon rolls using puff pastry which is brilliant. Instead of having to wait for the dough to rise like regular cinnamon roll dough you just roll and go. I hate waiting for stuff. After making her sweet rolls I started wondering if you could make the same thing only savory – here you go…
I made these with sausage apple and cheddar but the sky is the limit. I love recipes where you don’t really have to measure anything and you can use whatever you have in your fridge or whatever your theme is or just whatever you feel like eating. I’ll put other ideas at the bottom.
Ingredients
2 packages puff pastry; thawed but very cold
1 lb ground sausage
½ large sweet onion; diced
1 granny smith apple; cored and diced
1 tablespoon dried or fresh thyme
1 tablespoon sorghum or molasses
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 pats of cold butter
½ cup chopped pecans
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Non-stick baking spray
Directions
Serves: 12 rolls
Heat the oven to 400° and spray a non-stick muffin tin with baking spray
Cut each pat of butter into ¼ and place each ¼ into a muffin cup; sprinkle with a few pecans
Sauté the onions and sausage in a little olive oil until the sausage is no longer pink
Add the apples and sauté until soft
Add the thyme, sorghum, and cinnamon and stir
Remove the mixture from the heat and let cool completely (if you don’t let it cool it will make the puff pastry all gross and gummy – so let it cool)
Unfold one sheet of puff pastry on a floured surface
Using a rolling pin roll out the pastry to 12” x 11”
Sprinkle the pastry with half the shredded cheese and half the cooled sausage mixture; leave about a 1” strip at the end of the pastry
Roll up the pastry tightly ending with the edge that has nothing sprinkled on it; rest the roll on the seam
Using a serrated knife cut the log in half then each half into 1/3; place each roll cut side down into a muffin cup
Repeat with the other puff pastry and other half of the cheese and sausage mixture
Place the muffin tin in the preheated oven with a cookie sheet under it in case it spills over
Bake at 400° for 30-40 minutes or until each roll is golden brown.
Run a knife around the roll to release it and turn them out while still warm
Serve at room temperature
Some Other Ideas
Italian – mozzarella, olives, salami, with Italian seasoning
French – mushrooms, gruyere, ham, and thyme
Mediterranean – feta, kalamata olives, sundried tomato. Serve it with a tomato and cucumber salad and taziki sauce
Mexican – cheddar, jalapeno, steak, served with a queso and pico de gallo
Southern – fried chicken, pickles, mayo
You get the idea – think of a sandwich or pizza that you like and make it work. Just don’t use anything too wet – like put tomatoes on the side. Make sure you chop everything pretty small so it rolls up well. Add things like olives and sundried tomatoes that have a lot of flavor but keep track and don’t use salt if you have items with salt already in them. Don’t forget some cheeses are pretty salty
DAGNY | the g is silent but I am not 