Sausage Link Cheese Balls

Total Time: 22 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 12 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 1 (8 ounce) package brown and serve sausages, unthawed

Recipe

• 1 combine flour and grated cheese in workbowl of food processor with mixing blade.
• 2 gradually add just enough butter, teaspoon by teaspoon, using pulse mode, until dough forms a ball, and is not crumbly.
• 3 reserve cheese pastry.
• 4 cut each frozen, cooked sausage link into 4 equal pieces.
• 5 while still chilled, wrap each with enough of the cheese dough to form a walnut-sized ball.
• 6 preheat oven to 350.
• 7 place prepared sausage cheese balls on ungreased baking sheet, (about 20 per standard baking sheet), and bake 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.
• 8 do not overcook.
• 9 cool just a few minutes on paper towels before serving.
• 10 variations: be creative with fillings, which could include small, cooked meatballs, button mushrooms, cocktail olives, cubes of ham or bacon.
• 11 vary the cheese, using muenster, monterey jack, gouda, swiss or other favorites.
• 12 the basic dough and sausage make this salty enough that unsalted butter is best here.
• 13 you may flavor dough with dillweed, sage, thyme, cracked black pepper, curry or chili powder or experiment adding small amounts of deli mustard and the like.