Tag Archives: appetizer

Little Rollies

I saw this recipe on Amy’s site and thought that it would be the perfect appetizer to make for our Thusrday night Bible study. Amy calls them ‘Baked Salami Mozzarella Bites,’ and that’s a great name for them. However, when explaining what I was going to make to my husband, the name ‘Little Rollies’ popped out. And stuck.

They’re small enough that nobody will hesitate to try them (one bite is not a huge commitment), and so delicious that they disappeared by the end of the study. This is the first treat I’ve made that has been fully consumed by the group, which makes it the most popular Bible study food I’ve made to date. It beat out the apple tart. It beat out the queso. It beat out the pumpkin cranberry bread. It beat out the beer bread. Its trail to victory has left everthing else in the dust.

Let the Little Rollies sweep across the Bible studies of this nation.

These crunchy little pizza-flavored rolls with the salami and melted cheese, dipped in a little marinara, are so crazy good. And so crazy easy to make. Don’t be doubting–I’ll show you!

Ingredients

(Serves 10-12)

32 wonton wrappers
4 pieces string cheese
32 salami rounds
Cooking spray/olive oil
Marinara sauce, to serve

Preheat the oven to 450 F.

Quarter the pieces of string cheese lengthwise . . .

. . . then cut all the strips in half crosswise.

Spread out the first 8 wonton wrappers, with a corner facing you. Place a salami round in the lower section of each diamond shape, as close to the edge as possible.

Place one piece of string cheese (crosswise) across the bottom of the salami round.

Folding up the bottom corner, roll the wonton wrapper once so that it partially covers the piece of string cheese.

Fold in the sides like so . . .

[Sorry, that was possibly the worst photo ever posted on my blog. It’s a crime, that’s what. In my defense, I was really struggling to roll and photograph at the same time, and wasn’t even paying attention to my overly-bright flash settings. Yikes.]

. . . and continue to roll (like a burrito).

Seal the edges with a dab of water.

Repeat with all the wonton wrappers until they’re gone! Do this assembly-fashion and it won’t take long. Especially if you have a friend or little helper by your side (thanks Carrie, my dear “little helper”!).

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spritz it with olive oil or cooking spray. Place the little rollies on the baking tray, and lightly spritz the top with olive oil or cooking spray as well.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until they’re starting to look golden and toasted. Turn them over with tongs, crank up the heat to 500 F, and continue to bake for 5-10 minutes, until they’re crispy and brown.

You may have noticed there are not 32 little rollies here. That’s because I didn’t photograph them the night I made them for small group, but instead made a few more the following night for our personal consumption. They’re just that good.

Pad off the excess grease with a paper towel . . .

. . . and serve with marinara sauce for dipping.

Wanna see inside these addictive little bites? The rolled salami encasing the melty cheese . . .

It may be better to make a small batch, because I’d hate to think what would happen if it was just you alone, faced with 32 of these temptations.

Moderation . . . moderation . . . moderation . . .

(I’m hypnotizing myself into self-control)

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Chile con Queso

I made this Chile con Queso recipe (courtesy of Ree) for the first time for our yearly New Years party back in the olden days (2009), and a double batch was consumed by the dozen people in attendance before I could say “Great Scot!”

It’s delicious. It uses Velveeta. It’s not the kind of food I normally make . . . but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be broken out for parties. Especially now that it’s football season–though our viewing of choice on the evening of the Velveeta was Ken Burn’s new documentary about Prohibition.

And . . . it is still football season, right? I drafted this post at least a month ago, and now I’m feeling quite uncertain about it. The world of American sports–it’s so confusing.

Anyway, I must say that there’s something so Midwestern about Chile con Queso. It just seems like one of those appetizers that every cook from Illinois to Indiana to Wisconsin to Ohio probably has in her arsenal. And being a native Midwestern woman, I feel like making this is somehow connecting me to the countless other women who use Velveeta in their homestyle cookin’, and who don’t regret a single second of it.

As I mentioned yesterday, our Bible study group meets at our house on an alternating basis this year, and I’m using this as the opportunity to make all the less-healthy foods that my little heart desires. Because once it’s spread into small portions, no one gets the brunt of the fat, but everyone gets the pleasure of the flavors.

 Amen? Amen!

Ingredients

(Serves 12)

32 oz Velveeta Cheese Loaf
1 lb hot sausage (like Jimmy Dean’s)
1 large onion
1-10 oz can Rotel (diced tomatoes with chilies)
1-7 oz can chopped green chilies
1-3 jalapeños, to taste
Chips, to serve

Mince the onion!

I like the chunks on the smallish side, so that no one gets too much onion in one bite later on.

And I’d like to take this moment to point out that this sausage expires on October 20th at exactly 11:00.

Not a minute earlier, and not a minute later, apparently. At 11:01, run for the hills!

Fry the sausage and onion together in a large nonstick skillet or pot over medium heat, breaking up the sausage into crumbles as it cooks.

If necessary, when the sausage is cooked, drain the excess fat.

I did not drain the excess fat, just for the record. I was feeling vreeerrry bad, and loving every second of the experience.

Cut the loaf of Velveeta into smallish cubes. I cut it directly on its packaging to save the trouble another dirty dish.

And does anyone else pronounce the word ‘trouble’ as ‘trooblay’ every so often? Just for kicks? No?

With the heat on medium low, add the Velveeta . . .

. . . Rotel . . .

. . . and green chilies to the onion/sausage mixture.

Stir it occasionally until the cheese is melted.

Mince the jalapeño/s.

I removed most of the seeds and membrane, but in restrospect I think I could have handled the full blast of the heat. Stir it into the Queso.

Transfer the Queso to a crock pot to keep it hot.

Ponder its creaminess–then experience its creaminess firsthand.

There must be some kind of melting magique that they inject into that Velveeta.

Serve with chips!

This really shoudn’t be this good . . . but it is.

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