Poblano Sausage Pillows

Driving home from the library yesterday at 4 PM my mind turned to what we'll be having for supper. And then it hit me, I had forgotten to thaw the meat I needed. I mentally scanned the refrigerator and pantry supplies to see what I could make instead.

I had a pound of sausage and two poblano peppers in the refrigerator, but what to make with them when I had other menu plans for their use, that wasn't going to work tonight. And then an idea was born.

Supper was a great hit, and no one guessed it was a last minute idea. We enjoyed it so much I knew I had to jot down how I made it, so we can enjoy it again someday, and I decided to share it with you. It's been a while since I shared one of my recipes here.

The name, because Steven thought they looked like little pillows.

Poblano Sausage Pillows

1½ cup warm water
1½ Tbsp sugar
1½ tsp salt
1½ Tbsp melted butter (or vegetable oil)
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp yeast (heaping)
3 cups flour

Mix water, sugar, salt, and melted butter. Add one cup flour, yeast, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and black pepper. Mix until smooth. Add another cup of flour and mix well. Add remaining cup of flour and stir until it gets hard to do so. Use your hands to work in the rest of the flour. If dough is still sticky keep adding a little more flour until it no longer sticks to your fingers when you poke it.
Cover and let rise for 45 minutes.

In the meantime start working on the filling.

Filling

2 poblano peppers
1 lb sausage
Colby cheese (sliced)

Char the poblanos until covered in black blisters. I prefer using the top rack in the oven and broiling on high. Turn the pepper to make sure each side gets blistered. Remove from heat and place in a bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap to keep the steam trapped inside.

Once cooled use a paper towel and wipe off the charred skin of the pepper. Remove top of pepper and slice it open. Remove and discard seeds. Dice pepper to your preferred size. (I like mine small-ish) Set aside.

In a skillet, fry up sausage. Drain, and then stir in the diced poblanos.

At the end of the 45 minute rising time for the dough … spray cooking spray on counter top and place your dough on it. Roll out to about ¼ inch thickness. Cut into squares. Place a one inch square slice of Colby cheese in center and spoon some of your poblano sausage mixture on top. Fold edges in to form a ball. Place edges side down on parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 350º for 20 minutes.

I enjoyed sour cream with mine to help with the heat from the peppers, but the rest of the family enjoyed theirs without.

Leftovers made an easy lunch for LV and Kenneth to take to work today. And since I forgot to take a picture when they were fresh from the oven last night, here's how they look after being in the refrigerator overnight.