Mozzarella Sausage Balls

I pulled this recipe from a Sorrento cheese package. The question you have to ask your self is do you want this for breakfast or appetizer? They could either way…

When I first looked at this recipe, I thought breakfast on the go for the kids. The more I thought about it, the idea of Sunday brunch with eggs, fresh fruit, and waffles had my mouth watering.

I just pulled a batch from the oven and appetizer for New Year’s party is popping in my head…

I made the balls about 2.5 inches, since I am going to use them for breakfast. The recipe calls for 1-inch balls, which would be great if serving as appetizers.

I went ahead and tried one ball and it was so good, I snuck a second one. The prep on these is super simple. I would say start to table about half hour.

If you make the larger ball, adjust your time, I cooked mine for 18 minutes. The tops were golden and the bottom was just getting a bit of “crust” on them. The recipe also suggests baking on a greased cookie sheet. I was worried about the grease from the pan and balls becoming too much. I placed mine instead on parchment paper. I was surprised by the lack of grease that came out of these… yippee not overly  greasy.  This means you won’t have to worry too much if they get dropped on the floor during a party!

Since I did not have all the mozzarella needed, I mixed in about ½ cup Italian blend of cheese. I also used shredded cheese instead of dicing a block into pieces  

Ingredients:

1 lb. breakfast sausage, recipe calls for hot but you can any variety you want.

16 oz Mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 egg, beaten

1 cup of biscuit mix, I used Bisquick

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F

Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until well blended

Form into 1” balls, place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

Bake for 10-18 minutes or until deep golden brown and cooked through

Biscuits and gravy…

A true Southern American breakfast is biscuits and gravy. My Grandmother would make fried apples, grits and scrambled eggs to complete the entire rib sticking meal.

The gravy is not just any gravy. This is sausage gravy, or what some people consider white gravy. The mystery to good sausage gravy is the sausage. Do not use sausage, which you do not like the taste of. Also do not use a maple flavored sausage, unless you want maple flavored gravy.  I use a spicy sausage which gives a little heat to gravy and extra seasoning. I would also suggest not using link sausage, you will get more flavor from patty or ground sausage.

To make the gravy you need to cook 1 pound of sausage. I prefer to cook ours in small patties, others like to cook it like browning ground beef. Since I use a pan that has raised slots in it, I will remove the cooked sausage from the pan and reserve for later. I then pour the remaining contents (make sure you scrape all the little bits from the bottom) to a big sauce pan/skillet. Warm grease and add ¼ cup of white flour. Stir until flour dissolved and there are no clumps of flour; bring your grease and flour mix to a boil. Slowly, dribble in 2 cups of milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste, gravy will thicken as it cools.

Biscuits and rolls are not the same thing. Rolls are yeast based and are meant to rise, and be light weight. Biscuits have no yeast and are suppose to be fluffy, filling (heavy) and great for sopping up liquids on your plate.

I like to use club soda in my biscuits, so they will pop up and rise a bit. The recipe I use should have buttermilk in it; most of us do not have buttermilk in our homes. Instead of going out to buy some for this recipe add ¼ teaspoon of white vinegar to your regular white milk.

This recipe will make about 18 biscuits, since there are only four of us. I will cut out all biscuits and cook what I need. I will then place the remaining uncooked biscuits on a sheet of wax paper, before placing in a freezer safe bag. When I need or want biscuits, I will cook what I need. Place biscuit on  greased pan, frozen and cook for 18-20 minutes.

You will need the following ingredients:

5 cups of Bisquick

¼ cup club soda

½ cup of butter

1 egg, beaten

¼ cup buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°F

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, knead dough by until smooth

Flour a cutting board and roll dough out until ¾ inch thick.

Cut dough into 18 circles. I use a doughnut cutter with the center hole removed; a drinking glass makes a great cutter as well.

Place on greased baking pan and cook for 15-18 minutes.