My family always looks forward to sausage balls at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Every year, I've made the same old ones, which I'm sure you all know how to make. This year, I wanted to try something new, so I used Italian sausage. Oh my god, they are so good. I made a small batch just for myself and put the uncooked ones in the freezer for Thanksgiving. A few years ago, I started calling my mother "the Queen of sausage balls." That woman spends a half day making hers so it can be frozen. She will put all of her ingredients on the table, turn on her stories, and beat the devil out of the mixture. Then she will roll the mixture into balls that are just the right size. Now, she has Daddy make them so they can just pop them in the oven for breakfast or a snack. The first time I tried to make sausage balls, everything went wrong. I had a Christmas party at my house with some friends, and I made all the food for them. Well, everything worked out great, except for those sausage balls. My mistake was that I cooked the sausage first and then tried to make the balls. I thought that was how you did it, but when I took them out of the oven, they were a crumbly mess. Mama saved the day by making a batch for me at the last minute, and I made her Queen that day.
About 50 balls of Italian sausage.
- 1 pound of either hot or mild ground Italian sausage
- 2 C. bisquick
- 2 cups of grated mozzarella cheese (I grated mine very finely)
method
- Using your hands, mix the "uncooked" sausage and the Bisquick in a big bowl until they are well mixed.
- This step takes a few minutes, so don't rush.
- Once everything is mixed well, add the cheese and use your hands to work the cheese into the mixture.
- When everything is mixed well, take a small amount, roll it into a ball, and put it on a baking sheet.
- If you're going to freeze them, don't spray the pan with cooking spray, but if you're going to bake them, do. Do this with the rest of the dough.
- Bake in an oven heated to 350 degrees for 20 to 22 minutes, or until golden brown.
- If you want to freeze them, put the tray in the freezer for an hour and then take the sausage balls out and put them in a freezer bag.
- No need to let it thaw first. Use mustard or pizza sauce to go with it.
