Sausage Rolls

With Christmas just around the corner I realized there were a few people to whom I wanted to give a useful and thoughtful gift. I decided to make something savory, but not sweet because I know chocolate and cookies are very popular to make for the holidays. I decided to make a few of my cousin Catherine's delicious sausage rolls.



Makes 2 Sausage Rolls

1 lb of Jimmy Dean's Breakfast Sausage with sage
1 lb of lean ground turkey
2 tubes of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
Dried sage
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

Carefully place the tube of sausage and turkey meat inside the Marinade Express, both on the same side of the dividers. Once the lid is sealed and the air has been drawn out let the meat rotate within the Marinade Express for just three rotations. Stop the Marinade Express when the meat is resting on the dividers and outside of the water. Let the meat sit in this position for a few minutes to help drain the water out.

I found that the sausage held together just fine because it is more fatty. However, the ground turkey meat began to fall apart a little. I recommend placing it in a cheese cloth to help hold the meat together before processing it in the Marinade Express. Otherwise, I poured the liquid through a colander so I could salvage most of the ground turkey. Either way works great.

In a large bowl using your hands, mix together the sausage, turkey, palm full of sage, salt, and pepper. It is important to really mix everything together.

Next, lay one tube of crescent roll dough out on a cutting board; do not separate the crescents. Make sure to pinch together each perforation line so it forms one large rectangle.

Take half of the meat mixture and smooth it out evenly on top of the crescent roll.

Then roll the whole thing together so that the crescent roll is on the outside. You may need to push the ends so they aren't sticking out and pinch the dough together if you see meat showing. Repeat the process for the second sausage roll.

Wrap each sausage roll in saran wrap and freeze until they are semi-frozen. Then remove the sausage rolls from the saran wrap to slice in thick slices. Re-wrap each roll in the saran wrap and replace in the freezer.

Since I am giving these as gifts I used some masking tape and taped on the baking directions."Place in refrigerator the night before you want to eat them. The next morning place each slice on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 11-13 minutes or until the dough is golden brown. Enjoy!" I decided to wrap them up like large candies in Christmas paper.

Sausage Roll before it has been baked

They are an unusual, delicious, thoughtful gift that anyone will love to have on hand for breakfast or even lunch or dinner. I love the added flavor of the sage, but you can be creative and add in any other spices. I have made sausage rolls with Italian sausage and added in some garlic salt, basil, oregano, thyme, and red pepper flakes for a little kick. They were a fun twist to the other sausage rolls I have made. The original recipe calls for just the sausage but I like adding the lean ground turkey so it's not as greasy but still has that zesty sausage taste. Happy gift giving!

Sliced and baked scrumptious sausage rolls!