Recently, a co-worker of my husband’s offered him several pounds of homemade sausage. Apparently every year his co-worker and a friend go down to Smithfield, Virginia, home of the finest hams in the country, to buy a whole hog and make their own sausage. The ham industry in Smithfield dates from colonial times, as early as 1779. The pork and peanut industries in this part of Virginia were closely intertwined for many years. In fact, until 1966 Smithfield hams were required to come from peanut-fed hogs in order to claim the Smithfield moniker. This year, my husband’s co-worker and his friend were only able to get some Boston butt, but they still made country-style sausage in two flavors: regular and sage.

Of course, we tried making some into patties and frying it up, and it was delicious! But I wanted to try it in a recipe, so I found one for sausage and cheese picnic bread:

Picnic Sausage Bread

1 lb. sausage (I mixed the regular and sage flavors of our homemade sausage)

1 package refrigerated pizza dough (like Pillsbury)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Brown the sausage and drain any extra grease. Unroll the pizza dough flat on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with cooked sausage and shredded cheese. Roll up, crimp and seal the seams and ends and brush with a bit of olive oil. Poke a few holes in the top to vent. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

The sausage roll came out bubbly and warm. I paired it with Breckenridge Ophelia Hoppy Wheat Ale from Growlers To Go (who, by the way, offers a Happy Hour special on Wednesdays from 4-7 PM of buy one, get one half off on growler fills).

The verdict? This sausage fest was delicious!