10 Days of Thanksgiving Recipes -- Day 3

 

One more appetizer.....Festive Italian Sausage Cups. These are DANGEROUS!!
While you're hanging around having a few Thanksgiving morning cocktails....put these in dishes everywhere and watch everybody pop them in their mouths like candy! Beware...they are addictive!
If you want to stay with a seafood theme......substitute crabmeat for the sausage.

 

 

Italian Sausage Cups

1	Pastry for a double crust pie (9 in)
1 lb	bulk hot (or sweet) Italian sausage
6	chopped green onions
1 tbs	butter
1/2 cup	chopped canned mushrooms
1/4 cup	sliced pimento-stuffed olives
3/4 tsp	salt
1/4 tsp	pepper
1/4 cup	all purpose flour
2 cups	heavy cream
1/4 cup	freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
1 cup	shredded swiss cheese

On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry to 1/8" thickness. Cut with a 2 1/2" round cookie cutter. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased miniature muffin cup tray. Bake at 400 for 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pans to cool on wired racks. In a large skillet, cook sausage until no longer pink; drain well and set aside. In the same skillet, saute onions in butter until tender. Add mushrooms, sliced olives, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with flour; stir until flour is incorporated. Add cream; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in sausage and parmesan cheese. Reduce heat; simmer until thickened, about 5 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Spoon into pastry cups; sprinkle with Swiss cheese. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. This should yield approx. 48 cups. NOTE: Instead of making the cups from pastry crust, use pre-made phyllo dough cups. It will save you lots of time and they taste just as delicious! (maybe better!)