In Great Britain, a pig in a blanket is a mini sausage wrapped up in bacon.
I had no idea! As someone who shuns neither tradition nor bacon, I suddenly felt like a rebel for rolling up what I thought was a completely classic version of pigs in a blanket today, which I thought you might like to add to cocktail menus during this week before Christmas and then New Year’s.
I learned this fact at a cocktail party, just after the waiter had come by with a tray of American pigs in a blanket, offering bites to Brits and Americans alike. As I chewed my mini hot dog covered in dough-with apologies to any Brits reading-my reaction was one of Yankee haughtiness. We Americans may have appeared to get the recipe wrong, but in fact we have perfected it. Buttery dough and salty meat are an ideal cocktail food combination.
I did make one tweak, though. I picked up a package of Athens Fillo Dough from the freezer in my supermarket, defrosted the dough, melted some butter, grabbed a brush, and began layering the sheets with butter.
I love the flakiness of phyllo dough, how the outside gets really flaky and crisp while the layers closer to the hot dog become dense and doughy. Yum, and a dozen times more delicious than bacon (words I never thought I’d say).
I wrote this sponsored post in partnership with Athens Foods. Thanks for reading!
**Recipe**
Phyllo Pigs in a Blanket
Makes 36 pigs
Ingredients
36 mini hot dogs (there are about 40 in most packs)
16 sheets phyllo dough from half a package of Athens Food Fillo Dough, defrosted at room temp for 2 hours or in the fridge overnight
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
About 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
BBQ sauce, ketchup, and/or honey mustard, for serving
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
Pat the hot dogs dry with paper towels. Set aside.
Clear out a workspace. You’ll need room to put the phyllo on dry counter space and to place a cutting board nearby. You’ll also want room for the butter and the dogs (You’ll want to streamline your work and not be racing around the kitchen once you’ve started, since the dough can get sticky.)
Unwrap the phyllo dough. Place the pile of sheets on the dry counter space you cleared out. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top. Cover with a damp paper towel large enough to cover the sheets. This prevents the phyllo from sticking.
Take a sheet of phyllo and place it on your cutting board. Brush with butter. Layer on another sheet of phyllo. Brush that with butter. Layer on another sheet. Continue until you’ve used 8 sheets. Cut the phyllo into six strips, then cut each of those into thirds. Place 1 hot dog at the bottom of a strip and then roll up the dough around the dog. Seal with a bit more butter if the dough seems too dry to stick. Transfer to the baking sheet. Repeat with 17 more hot dogs, then sprinkle all with sesame seeds.
Make another pile of 8 sheets, with butter in between, and cut into 18 strips again, then use up the remaining hot dogs.
Bake both sheets for 12 to 15 minutes, until the dough is golden. Serve hot or room temperature, with whatever sauce you like.
