Sausage Spinach Roll Ups

This is a recipe I got from my friend Gail Klaveness in Dallas. We were members of the same book club.  Gail made these for a book club meeting once and they were a big hit. She was kind enough to share the recipe.  The book club, The Easy Readers, is still going strong.  I'm honored to be an alum of the group and to still be included in their email trails.  I just wish I could make it to monthly meetings.  It's a wonderful group of very interesting women with some great perspectives.  They also had some killer recipes.  John used to insist that we just got together for the food.  With food like what we prepared, what's wrong with that?

This particular recipe is a great one to make for pot lucks, something quick for guests to grab on a busy holiday morning, or just any occasion.  I guarantee you'll be taking home an empty plate wherever you take these.  Bon Apetit.

Sausage Spinach Roll Ups

You will need:

1 lb ground sausage (original recipe calls for hot, I prefer mild...o.k. I admit it, I'm a wimp)

8 oz grated mozzarella

1/4 cup parmesan

1 egg, beaten

1 box frozen spinach

2 rolls of Pillsbury french bread loaf (uncooked)

 Ingredients gathered and ready for the preparation

Remove bread dough from can. Lightly flour a bread board (or whatever surface you're using). I used Wondra this time. It's a very fine flour, normally used for making gravy, but it works well for this too. Let the dough sit for a few minutes so it approaches room temperature. Then CAREFULLY unroll it onto your floured surface. This is a little tricky, so be patient.

While your dough is sitting and warming a little more, prepare your other ingredients.

Brown the sausage in a skillet and then drain.

Cook and drain your spinach.  The original recipe calls for frozen spinach, but you can use whatever you like: fresh, frozen or canned...that's all up to your particular tastes.

Take the beaten egg and pour most of it into the drained spinach mixture. Save a little of the egg for brushing on the top of the finished loaf.

Once you have drained the spinach, place half of the mixture on the rolled out dough.  Sprinkle 1/2 the parmesan mixture on top.

 Add half of the spinach and egg mixture.  Spread it around so it's fairly evenly distributed.

 Add half of your mozzarella, again spreading it around so it's evenly distributed.

 Roll up your loaf.  This is also a little tricky because the dough is going to want to break.  Just take it slow and be careful.  Gently pull and roll as you go.

 Once you have your loaf rolled up, brush half of the remaining egg on top and then score the top.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until the top is brown and it's heated through.

Voila!  The end result.  Serves 8 people per loaf.

This is what the inside looks like.

 I felt obligated to do a taste test for you.  I can report that it was yummy as usual.  Here, I'll go have another bite just in case I missed tasting it for anyone.