Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Lit'l Smokies handpies

You know the lit'l smokies? The little sausages used to make 'pigs in a blanket'. That and a container of crescent rolls seems to always make for a very happy group of guests.
Now, with the BIG game coming up on Sunday I'm sure everyone expects me to produce a thousand of these little units. But I thought "could I make them slightly different"? Of course the family thinks that if it isn't broken I shouldn't  fix it - but here I go anyway.


note : I was actually looking for something a little less work than rolling all those tiny sausages. It didn't work out that way.
But these are quite delectable - kind of like a Hot Pocket - but you know exactly what is in them. Does that make sense?


lit'l smokies handpies (aka...homemade hot pockets)
























another note : I made a couple batches. One batch I used mozzarella cheese - one batch I used cream cheese. I can't decide which I liked better. I love the gooiness of the mozzarella but loved the creaminess of the cream cheese. You decide - use whatever you happen to have in the fridge, it'll be good either way.
Also, I used a combination of both green and black olives. I love the bite of the green olives but the black ones give it the Hot Pocket Pizza feel. Again, use whichever you prefer.


YOU WILL NEED:


1 package puff pastry
a 3 1/2 or 4 inch cookie cutter
1 14oz package lit'l smokies sausages - sliced
1/2 cup white onion - roughly chopped
4 cloves fresh garlic 
1/4 cup green olives
3/4 cup black olives 
1 cup mushrooms
1 cup fresh parsley 
1 small package mozzarella or cream cheese - sliced - then put back in fridge until right before you need it
1 1/2 cups pasta or pizza sauce
splash of red wine (just to clean all the tasty bits off the bottom of your pan)
pepper - I did not add any salt, I felt the sausages and the olives gave enough of that - but you taste it at the end and see what you think.


TO DO:


oven to 375


line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper then set aside.


slice the cheese then put it back in the fridge.
chop all the sausages, onion, garlic, mushrooms, olives and parsley.
using a large skillet/pan saute the onions about 5 minutes on medium high then add the garlic.
add the mushrooms and sausages and let cook until there is almost no liquid.
add the olives.
























use a splash of red wine to clean up the pan.
add the 1 1/2 cups of sauce.
cook another 7 or 8 minutes - just until it really starts to bubble.
taste to see if you want to add salt otherwise just give it a few turns of fresh ground pepper.
turn off the heat then stir in the fresh parsley.
set aside and let cool a few minutes while you roll out the puff pastry.


pour a little water into a small bowl for brushing the edges of the pastry.


roll the pastry to the usual 10 x 12 rectangle.
slice yourself 9 sections.
brush most the entire square with water (you can leave the center dry)
place a large tablespoon of sausage mixture onto each square.
top with your sliced cheese.
then fold a corner to another corner.
kind of pat all round the mound of mixture to seal the pastry.
using a 3 1/2 or 4 inch round cookie cutter - cut out your little handpie then place onto the baking sheet.


bake about 25 minutes.
until tops are golden.
























let cool five minutes then let everyone have at 'em.

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