Makes 36 pinwheels, or 18 servingsThe glories of pork sausage are well known outside the South. Exhibit A: these sausage pinwheels, familiar to Southerners but with a little West Coast addition of spinach and kale. Lori Miller, formerly of Tennessee, now of Chico, California, finds that the energy at a party can be boosted by simply rearranging her living room. Rather than having chairs lined up against the wall or in a big circle, she creates clusters of three or four seats. This arrangement encourages conversation and even mingling, as most people won’t stay in one seat all night.
1 pound bulk pork breakfast sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
¾ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground mace
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped kale, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
3 large eggs, divided
2 cups grated Gruyère cheese
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, brown the sausage over medium heat; add the onion and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the Tabasco, salt, and mace and cook 2 minutes. In a large bowl combine the sausage mixture, spinach, kale, 2 of the eggs, and the cheese.
Gently unfold the pastry on a floured surface and roll each sheet with a rolling pin into an 18 × 8-inch rectangle. Spread half the sausage mixture over each rectangle, leaving a 1-inch border on the long side. Roll from the long edge to enclose the filling.
Beat the remaining egg and brush the border of the pastry with it; press to seal. Pinch the ends together. Brush the tops and sides of the roll with the remaining egg wash. Score the roll at 1-inch intervals. Place the roll on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes, then cut into pinwheels along the scores.
Makes 36 pinwheels, or 18 servings