Savory Pesto Meat Rolls

Isn't that pretty?  A few months ago, I was watching Food Network's Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins and saw a feature on the Blue Moon Cafe in Maryland.  They make all sorts of over the top dishes like Captain Crunch Encrusted French Toast.  They also make a rolled up country sausage-pesto-biscuit thing that sounded really good.  I searched for it online and found the Food Network recipe (see here), but I didn't want breakfast sausage and I didn't want a biscuit.  I wanted dinner.  So.  I replaced the biscuit with a yeast roll, the breakfast sausage with Italian sausage and I fiddled around with a few other things to make it what you see above.  It was amazing.  The adults all loved it, one child picked out the mushrooms, one ate the roll sans sauce and the other three thought it was great.

 Savory Pesto Meat Roll:
filling
1 pound sweet or mild Italian sausage
1/2 onion, chopped fine
salt & pepper to taste
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded Asiago cheese (if you haven't tried this, it's a pretty strong cheese - kids may not like it)
1/2 - 2/3 cup prepared pesto sauce
dough:
2 1/4 cups warm water
1 Tbsp yeast
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp oil
5 cups flour
sauce:
1 red pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 leek, chopped (optional - I happened to have one on hand)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small can mushrooms, drained
1 14 ounce can petite diced tomatoes, drained
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 cup mozzarella or asiago to sprinkle on top

Prepare the dough by softening the yeast in the water with the sugar, salt and oil.  Mix in the flour and knead (by hand or by mixer).  Cover and let rise until double.  Punch down and roll out on a floured surface into a large rectangle.

Just before you are ready to punch down the dough, brown the sausage and onion in a skillet.  Season with salt and pepper.  Drain.  Spread pesto sauce on dough rectangle (think cinnamon roll; this would be the butter).  Top with the meat mixture and then sprinkle with cheese.  Roll up and slice into 12 spirals.  Place in a  greased 9 X 13 pan and bake 350 degrees 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

While the rolls are baking, heat oil in a skillet.  Add the onion, pepper, garlic and leek.  Soften for 5-7 minutes.  Add the remaining sauce ingredients and simmer another 10 minutes.  Spoon sauce over warm roll and top with a sprinkle of cheese.

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