Mini Sausage Pastries

If you’re looking for an appetizer in a hurry (and who isn’t during this very busy holiday season?), then you might want to try these.   I based my recipe on this one that I found in last week’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch, kicking it up a notch with the addition of Dijon mustard.   We’d found ourselves dipping the pastries into mustard, so I figured why not just add it to the pastry and be done with it.   It worked!  The key here is to have a very flavorful, spicy sausage that is a relatively fine grind.   I used the Bob Evans savory sage pork sausage as suggested in the original recipe to find it rather grisly and insipid, so went with our usual Bob Evans 'hot' variety and it worked out much better.

I also made just a third of the recipe, using the remaining two thirds of the puff pastry for Palmiers so I ended up with two delicious appetizers in relatively little time, having assembled the palmiers during the baking process of the sausage pastries.   The jury is still out on whether or not the sausage pastries freeze successfully.   I’ll have to let you know.

Mini Sausage Pastries

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed (half of a 17.3-ounce package)

2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 pound spicy pork sausage (your favorite brand)

1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 450° F.  Cut the sheet of dough into 3 equal strips, cutting along the fold lines.  On a floured board, roll each strip into a 4-by-8-inch rectangle.   Brush center of each pastry (running lengthwise) with 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard.   Divide sausage into 3 equal portions.  Roll each portion into an 8-inch log.   Place one log in the center of each dough rectangle, leaving room to seal the dough.  Moisten one long edge of dough with water (you can use a pastry brush for this, or your finger – I chose the latter – fewer dishes to clean), then fold the dough over the sausage, making edges meet.   Flute the edge to seal, leaving ends open.  Cut each log into 10 equal pieces.  Repeat with the remaining sausage and dough.   Transfer sausage rolls to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Score the pastry tops.  Whisk the egg with a fork, then brush across the tops of the rolls.   Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until pastry is golden brown.    Let stand on baking sheet 2 minutes; remove to a cooling rack.   Sausage rolls may be served hot or cold.

This post is linked to:

On the Menu Monday

Mouthwatering Monday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Tasty Tuesday

What's Cooking Wednesday

Foodie Friday