We're in freezer cooking mode around here. All by itself, that's a big topic for another day. But in the meantime, there are a few recipes here on the blog that are freezer friendly and can get you started.
This particular recipe was a "try it and see" experiment out of a cookbook I bought. The book, Family Feasts for $75 a Week by Mary Ostyn, had a lot of useful information for me about budgeting in the grocery department and how to successfully feed a family frugally, healthfully, and homemade. However, as is the case for any family tastes, we had our favorites and they didn't quite match up with very many of the recipes in the book.
This recipe actually came out of the lunch section, and the author suggests slicing it and packing it like sandwiches. So when we tried it the first time we did just that, and took it on a family day trip to the coast. However, what we found was (while it was delicious) it was not very travel friendly. All the filling has problems with staying put in the bread or in your mouth and not landing in your lap in between.
We tried one remedy, which was to make "pocket pie" versions with the same filling. Those were good, but for me personally, I just didn't love the cold sausage thing.
SO good recipe idea--bad execution or purpose. It just needed a simple reworking. And I also altered it a bit to our family's tastes, using homemade pizza dough rather than store bought frozen bread dough, and tweaking the filling here and there with ingredients we kept on hand more regularly.
Start out with the pizza crust. Our recipe can be found here. If all you have time for is to mix up the dough, do the mixing and before letting it rise, cover and put in the fridge. You can leave it there for up to a week if you want, but know that it will pick up a bit of a sourdough flavor the longer you wait. When you're ready to use it, bring it out of the fridge at least 2 hours ahead of time and let rise covered while you prepare the filling.
Brown your sausage; do not drain.
Chop your veggies. I love my food processor because: 1. it's faster and 2. my kids would usually turn up their noses at bell peppers and onions, but chopped finely enough, they'll never know what hit them.
I go for about a fine chunky salsa consistency...
Add the vegetables to the sausage and simmer until veggies are tender and onions transparent.
Don't hate me, but don't drain the grease, man.
Instead, add more fat. Cream cheese, specifically. I confess to going a little overboard on this round; I usually prefer a less cream cheese to "other stuff" ratio. I'll give you the better ratio in the recipe below.
If you get the cream cheese into chunks, it softens and blends in a little faster. You can leave the heat on, but leave it low and slow for just a few minutes and turn it off. Frequent stirring is better for melting the cream cheese--you don't want to burn it.
Roll out the dough. I usually go for about as wide as the rolling pin (8-10 inches) and about as long as my pan (16-18 inches in my case). You want the loaves to fit, you know!
Add the filling and begin the braid by cutting the same number of 1" wide slits to within 1/2" of filling.
Begin by folding the bottom up...
and tucking in the ends.
Then start criscrossing (yes, that's a word) the strips of dough, tucking them in as you go.
Now, you can finish it prettier than I do, but this it what I do so it doesn't fall apart and I end up with sausage goo oozing out onto the tray.
Stop two rows before the end.
Tuck up the end first...
and then crisscross the extras and tuck 'em in.
Place that baby on a baking sheet and bake it. Don't let it rise. If you do, your braid will crack and you won't like it. If you want it to be shiny and gorgeous, brush it with a beaten egg before baking.
Serve sliced and warm, or let cool completely before wrapping in foil and freezing. To reheat, unwrap foil and bake on a tray for about 30 minutes.
Sausage Braid
adapted from Family Feasts for $75 a Week, by Mary Ostyn
1 lb sausage
2 bell peppers (I use green)
1 onion (large, or two small)
1 package cream cheese, softened (8 oz)
Prepare dough and set aside. Brown sausage; do not drain. Chop veggies to desired chunkiness. Add to sausage and cook until tender. Turn heat down to low and stir in cream cheese, stirring frequently until cheese is just melted. Remove from heat. Divide dough into two. Roll out into rectangle/oval, about 10"x18". Place half of filling down middle of dough, leaving 1 inch on each end and 3 inches on each long side. Braid dough. Brush with beaten egg if desired. Place on greased baking sheet and bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown. If freezing, keep the baking time closer to 20 minutes, let cool completely, wrap in foil and freeze. To reheat, unwrap foil completely and reheat on baking sheet in 350 oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until center is warmed through. Otherwise, serve sliced and warm!
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