Lazy Cook's Chopped-Ham-Stuffed Rolls

 We had leftover ham from Easter dinner. 

 I know, what a complete shock. These are clearly unprecedented days.

Naturally, I was in search of a novel way to serve some of those leftovers before the rest went into the pot to make bone broth for future batches of legume soups. 

What I opted for was a quick-and-easy, down-and-dirty cheat meal.

It's easily adaptable to your own taste preferences, and involves very little actual work (unless you really want to make work for yourself).

Use as much pre-fab stuff where you can, and prep an hour or more in advance, if you want. 

This makes about 5 times as much filling as one would need for two cans of crescent roll dough. This allows for people to add extra goop to their bread, as they so wish. Or, in my case, to serve to people who aren't supposed to be eating breads (for whatever reason). It's low in carbohydrates, and, when not served in those rolls, is gluten-free.

 Chopped-Ham-Stuffed Rolls (shortcut recipe)

Ingredients:

2 containers ready-to-bake crescent roll dough
2–3 tablespoons neutral cooking oil
1 cup ham, chopped into a loose crumble (about 1/2 cm pieces)
1/4 cup minced onion
1/2 cup minced fresh mushrooms
1 cup finely chopped fresh spinach
1/4 cup finely diced sweet bell pepper (use the red for added color)
1–3 teaspoons Italian seasoning (to taste, optional)
Salt & pepper to taste
8 ounces (1 bag) finely grated Italian Blend cheese (or grate your own low-moisture mozzarella, Parmesan, and Provolone, if you feel you must)
1 egg, well beaten
"Everything Bagel" topping, or sesame or poppy seeds, by your preference, for topping


Directions:

Coat a large frying pan with cooking oil, and, on medium-high heat, sear the mushrooms until they begin to crisp up. Reduce temperature to low, and quickly add in onions, cooking only until translucent. Stir in ham, spinach, bell pepper, and seasonings (optional). Heat until spinach just begins to wilt, remove from heat, transfer to a medium-large mixing bowl, and allow to cool until it's nearly room-temperature.

Preheat oven to 375º F.

Add about 1/3 of your cheese blend into the ham/veggie mixture, stir until fully mixed.

On a parchment-lined cookie sheet, lay out the first batch of crescent roll dough in individual triangles, leaving about an inch between each and its neighbor, and brush the edges of the dough with the beaten egg.

Set a heaping tablespoon of the meat/veggie/cheese mixture in the center of each triangle.

Use the second can of dough to top, gently stretching the dough as needed, and pressing the edges tightly shut (use a fork to make it decorative, if you want).

Brush each triangle with more egg, then sprinkle a small amount of grated cheese and the "Everything Bagel" mix, or your preferred sesame/poppy seeds.


You will have what appears to be leftover filling. Into that, add half the remaining cheese, mix well. Place in well-greased baking dish (a standard loaf pan will work just fine). Top with the last of the cheese. Place in upper half of the oven.  Allow to bake about 20 minutes before putting the crescent roll sheet in with it (if they fit on the same rack in the oven that's great, but otherwise, leave enough space between it and the lower rack for the rolls to rise a bit). 

Bake the stuffed rolls for about 20 minutes, until golden brown. 

Remove rolls and loaf pan from oven.

Allow to cool about 5 minutes before serving.