Sausage Stars

For some reason, my husband thinks it is necessary to be part of two separate fantasy football teams this year. Anyone out there feel my pain? Fortunately, both teams are filled with great people who make the whole process lots of fun. His first draft is this weekend, and he asked me to make two of his favorite appetizers, Sausage Stars and Pioneer Woman's Jalepeno Poppers, both of which never fail to disappear when I bring them to a party.

The Sausage Stars pack a spicy punch easily tamed by using milder sausage and red pepper. Around our house, the hotter the better!

Even though the recipe gives directions for serving the Stars immediately after baking, I like to make the separate components ahead of time and assemble them just before serving. If you would like to make them ahead of time, here are a couple pointers:

While the sausage browns, press the wonton wrappers into mini-muffin tins and bake them until lightly browned. Once the wonton wrappers cool, I like to stack them in a airtight container. You can easily store the sausage filling ingredients in an airtight container, too. Just be sure to keep the filling refrigerated until you are ready to bake the appetizers.

Sausage Stars

1 lb. hot pork sausage

1 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 1/4 cup grated pepper jack cheese

1 tsp. ground red pepper

1 small can sliced olives

1 cup prepared ranch dressing

1 package wonton wrappers

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook sausage until browned and spoon onto paper-lined plate. In a medium-sized bowl, combine browned sausage with cheeses, red pepper, olives, and ranch dressing.

Lightly grease mini-muffin tins and press a wonton wrapper into each cup. Bake for 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove baked wrappers from tins and place on a baking sheet. Fill each wrapper with a scant teaspoon of sausage mixture. Bake 5-8 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Yield 48.