The first time Husband had these Hot Sausage Canapes, he immediately renamed them “Man Squares.” They are perfect to keep on hand for those times when the guys gather at your house to watch the game. Believe me, they’ve made me a hero during more than one football/hockey/basketball playoff.
A friend served these when we first moved in to the neighborhood, and I’m pretty sure both Husband and I had more than the amount she had estimated each guest would consume. They were deliciously naughty. When my neighbor shared her recipe, I saw why. It called for ground beef, hot pork sausage and Velveeta. I was determined make it a little healthier – but challenged not to lose the flavor.
I substituted ground turkey and turkey sausage for the ground beef and pork sausage. In fact, I went a step further, and ground my own turkey. {I really like knowing what’s in my food!} A quick internet search turned up a copycat recipe for Jimmy Dean’s sausage, so I used that to spice it up. I’ll post that soon.
Mimicking the creaminess of the Velveeta just took a combination of cream cheese, extra sharp cheddar and a little bit of milk.
If you want the original recipe, I’ve included that here too – as written by my neighbor Margaret!
One recipe makes about 45 of these little tasty morsels.
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 pound hot turkey sausage
- 8 ounces ⅓-less-fat cream cheese, cut into cubes
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 loaf Cocktail Rye Bread {such as Rubschlager's}
- Brown the sausage together in a large skillet. Drain any fat.
- Add cream cheese, cheddar and milk, stirring until cheese is melted.
- Stir in oregano, garlic salt and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well.
- Preheat oven to 400º.
- Place about 1 tablespoon of meat mixture on each bread slice, spreading to edges. Place canapes on large cookie sheet and bake until cheese is bubbly and starting to brown, about 12 minutes.
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound Jimmy Dean Hot Pork Sausage
- 1 pound Velveeta
- 1 Tbs oregano
- ½ tsp garlic salt
- ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
- party rye bread
- Brown meat and drain fat. Slice cheese thin. Add spices and cheese to meat. Spread on party rye. Freeze on cookie sheets. Store in plastic bags. When time to serve brown under broiler 3 minutes. Let stay in oven after turning off broiler. If no broiler, bake at 450 for 8-10 minutes.
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