Here’s a great, unique, fun appetizer that disappears as fast as you put it out! Our sausage and pesto roll is, of course, easy to make and so delicious. We used to serve this as the main course, but then realized if we cut it into smaller pieces, it makes the best appetizer ever!
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 6People | 30minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 20 minutes |
|
|
- 2 Peppridge Farm puff pastry Sheets
- 5 hot or mild sausage, crumbled
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced and carmelized
- 3/4 cup pesto, homade or purchased
- 1 cup asssorted grated cheese: jack, cheddar, mozzarella
- 1/2 cup Grated parmesan or Romano cheese
- 2teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
- Defrost pastry sheet and lay flat on a lightly floured surface. Roll with a rolling pin until 1/8 inch thick keeping a rectangular shape. Evenly spread the pesto over the entire surface.
- Remove sausage from the casings and crumble into a medium sized frying pan. Brown sausage over a medium heat, continuing to break the sausage into smaller pieces as it browns. Continue browning for 5-7 minutes or until sausage is lightly brown and cooked through.
- To carmelize the onions, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a medium sized frying pan. Heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook for 5-8 minutes or until translucent and golden brown.
- Evenly spread the sausage, onions, and cheeses over the pesto.
- Roll the pastry starting at the long end of the pastry until fully rolled.
- Place the rolled pastry on a greased baking sheet and brush with olive oil.
- Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or until pastry is puffed and golden brown. Take out of oven and rest for 5 minutes before cutting into 1/4 inch slices if serving as an appetizer or in quarters for an entre serving.
An Important Tip About the Dough: You can of course make your own dough for this recipe. It is so much easier than you would think. All you need is a little flour, yeast, salt, water and you are good to go. However, if you are in a real hurry, Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets are our go to alternative. It’s easy to find in local stores and is the closest to homemade dough that we have found.
Did I tell you that Linda and I teach cooking classes in the Bay Area? Sometimes we teach to groups as small as 8 and as big as 30. We served the sausage and pesto roll as an appetizer at one of recent classes and it was as if our guests had never had anything like it. With every bite, the rave reviews just kept coming: “Wow! this is amazing!” “What is in this, this is the best ever!” “Can I have just one more piece (even though they had already had three pieces).” 
Back to our classes. At the end of every cooking class, the group sits down together at the community table and enjoys the meal that they have prepared. Every group is different and they all share great stories that make us laugh, cry and we walk away from the table feeling inspired and connected to each other is ways that are sometimes hard to explain.
During one of our cooking classes, we asked the group to come ready to share something they were good at. During the meal, we went around the table to tell our stories. One person shared the loving story of his grandma making him chicken soup when he was a little boy and he was sick, and another shared how she had learned the art of making their famous family meatballs in the basement of their New York apartment in a winter storm. But probably the most magical moment was when one of our guests brought out his ukulele and started playing. We were all mesmerized. He played songs that most of us knew and we all just spontaneously started singing along with him. We ended up singing for almost an hour, not wanting the night to end. But alas, everyone needed to go home!
This cooking class led to another great idea. For my next big family get together I am going to have everyone come ready to share something that they are good at. While of course, we know each other really well, when 22 get together, sometimes, it can be a crazy loud time and we can’t really catch up on what everyone has been up to. Who knows what surprises we’ll discovery as everyone shares their latest “thing that you are good at.” It may be our next new recipe!
Wow, this looks AMAZING! I wish I had been there for this one!