Pigs in a Blanket Baked Brie

The school Christmas concert was Thursday. Emma sang — performed — in the choir with the same enthusiastic abandon she brings to everything. She was in the front row, belting out "Silent Night" with a volume that was neither silent nor night-appropriate. The girl has presence. What she lacks in pitch she compensates for in commitment. I clapped. Kevin clapped. Noah operated the sound system again, his annual contribution to the arts. Jack sat in the audience with his hands in his lap, watching, always watching.

Kevin did his annual Christmas lights installation. This year he added light-up reindeer to the lawn, which was a decision made at the hardware store without consulting me, and which I discovered when I came home from work to find my front yard populated by illuminated deer. The deer have moving heads. They nod. They nod constantly. It looks like a herd of deer agreeing with something, and it's both festive and unsettling, and the neighborhood kids love it, so the nodding deer stay.

I made beef bourguignon this week. Not because I'm fancy — I'm not fancy and I don't pretend to be — but because I had a bottle of red wine that Kevin opened and didn't finish and leaving wine open for more than a day is a waste, and the best way to not waste wine is to cook with it. Chuck roast, pearl onions, mushrooms, carrots, bacon, garlic, tomato paste, the wine, and beef broth. Three hours in the Dutch oven. The kitchen smelled like a French farmhouse, which is probably not what it smelled like, but it smelled expensive and warm and that's close enough.

The kids didn't recognize it. "What is this?" Emma asked, poking a mushroom like it was a foreign object. "It's stew," I said. "It has wine in it," she said, eyes wide. "The alcohol cooks off," I said. "Am I going to get drunk?" she asked. She is nine. I said no. She ate it. She liked it. Noah ate three bowls. Jack said the carrots were "adequately tender." Kevin said, "This is really good." I said, "It's leftovers and wine." He said, "My favorite combination." I will make this again. Not because it's fancy. Because it uses what I have and makes it better, which is the only cooking philosophy I've ever needed.

The bourguignon was already handled, the wine was already in the pot, and it occurred to me that I needed something for the table while everything finished — something that looked festive without requiring me to have any remaining energy, because I had already spent all of it on three hours of Dutch oven management and nodding reindeer opinions. This baked brie wrapped in buttery pastry with little sausages arranged around it is exactly that kind of recipe: it looks like you tried very hard, it tastes like you tried even harder, and how little effort was actually involved is information you can absolutely keep to yourself.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 8–10

Ingredients

1 wheel brie cheese (8 oz), rind on
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed (half of a 17 oz package)
20 cocktail sausages (little smokies)
2 tablespoons apricot jam or fig preserves
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional, for serving)
Crackers or sliced baguette, for serving
Fresh rosemary sprigs, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Preheat. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut the pastry. On a lightly floured surface, unfold the thawed puff pastry. Cut into strips approximately 1/2 inch wide and 4–5 inches long.
Wrap the sausages. Wrap each cocktail sausage in one pastry strip, stretching slightly and overlapping at the seam. Arrange the wrapped sausages in a tight circle on the prepared baking sheet, leaving an 8-inch open space in the center for the brie.
Prepare the brie. Place the brie wheel in the center of the sausage ring. Score the top rind lightly in a crosshatch pattern. Spread the apricot jam or fig preserves over the top.
Apply egg wash. Brush the pastry-wrapped sausages generously with the beaten egg. Do not brush the brie.
Bake. Bake for 22–27 minutes, until the pastry is deep golden brown and puffed, and the brie is visibly soft when gently pressed.
Finish and serve. Remove from oven and drizzle honey over the top of the brie. Garnish with fresh rosemary if desired. Serve immediately — the brie sets quickly as it cools — with crackers or baguette slices alongside.

Nutrition (per serving)

Pigs in a Blanket Baked Brie — What to Serve When You’ve Already Used the Wine on Dinner