Hot Cheese & Ham Rolls

 

I was recently asked if I would like to participate in a Challenge put forth by the People from The Laughing Cow to create some scrumptious recipes using their Extra Light low fat cheese spread triangles and leftovers!  You know me, I do love a good challenge and this recipe here today is the first which I have come up with for them.




These delicious Hot Ham and Cheese Rolls make the perfect breakfast or brunch dish, or even a light lunch or supper dish!



They start with an incredibly easy scone type of dough.   Simply measure the ingredients for the dough into the bowl, cut in the fat, stir in some milk and then roll out into a large rectangle, which you spread with some grainy dijon.  Easy peasy.




You then top this with a layer of thinly sliced cooked ham, or chopped ham if that is all you have.  You can even buy sandwiches slices of cooked ham, but the idea here is to use your leftovers.  Once you have the ham spread out on the mustard topped scone dough, you spread 4 triangles of The Laughing Cow Extra Light superbly tasting low fat cheese spread over all.  (If you let it come to room temperature, this is easier.)



 Once you have that all spread out, you roll up the dough tightly like a jelly roll and then cut it crosswise into twelve slices and bang them into a baking dish.   Once again, easy peasy.

 

 That's not where the deliciousness ends however, because you then melt butter together with some brown sugar, Worcestershire Sauce, and more grainy Dijon mustard.   The whole lot gets poured over the rolls and then they are baked until they are puffy and olden brown.



Why settle for a sandwich when you can have something deliciously as scrumptious as this without too much fuss and bother!  Delicious!

*Hot Ham and Cheese Rolls*

Makes 12

Printable Recipe 

These are delicious and a great way to use up leftover baked ham.  Simple to make. Perfect for Brunch or lunch with a salad on the side.   

For the pastry:

180g of plain flour ( 2 cups)

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

75g of cold butter (1/3 cup) cut into bits

180ml of milk (3/4 cup) 

For the filling:

2 TBS grainy dijon mustard

3/4 pound thinly sliced ham

4 triangles of Laughing Cow Extra Light cheese

(at room temperature) 

To glaze:

125g of butter (1/2 cup) melted

2 TBS soft light brown sugar

1 TBS Worcestershire Sauce

1 TBS grainy Dijon mustard

First make the pastry.  Sift the flour, along with the baking powder and the salt into a bowl.  Drop in the butter and cut it in using two round bladed knives or a pastry blender, until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.   Make a well in the centre.  Pour in the milk to make a soft dough.  Tip out onto a floured board and knead lightly a few times, then pat out into a rectangle 13 inches by 18 inches in size.

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.  Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.  Set aside.

Spread the rolled out pastry with the grainy dijon mustard.  Lay the slices of ham over top to cover, leaving approximately 1/2 inch free on one long side.   Place 1 laughing cow triangle in 1/4 of the pastry placing it on top of the ham.  Using a knife spread it out as best as you can.  Roll up the pastry, encasing the ham and cheese, working from the long side opposite the side with the free edge.  Pinch the edge shut.   Cut into 12 1 inch slices crosswise.  Place them cut sides down into the prepared baking dish.

 Mix together the glaze ingredients until smooth.  Pour evenly over top of the rolls.  Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes, until well risen and golden brown.   Serve warm.





Laughing Cow Extra Light is the "lightest of the lightest" of The Laughing Cow triangles. With only 2% fat and at 19 calories per triangle, you can feel free to enjoy its cheesy taste without lots and lots of guilt!  They are pretty good even eaten on their own.   Especially handy this time of year when we are all wanting to shift a bit of those extra pounds we put on over the holidays!



Look at the cute little cooler they sent me.  You plug it into a car battery and it can keep things cool or warm, depending on what you want I guess.

 

Perfect for keeping your cheese cool!  And for picnics.  These scrumptious Cheese and Ham Rolls would also be good for bring along to picnics!

Stay tuned to see what other recipes I can come up with using The Laughing Cow Extra Light low fat cheese spread!  In the meantime to be sure to check out their extensive recipe page!

Their website
Like them on Their Facebook Page