With soft, tender, buttery dough wrapped around ham, swiss cheese, sauteed onions and sweet bell pepper with a marvelous tarragon mustard sauce, these savory ham & swiss rolls are a delightful sandwich in roll form!
When you think about breakfast rolls, typically sweet rolls come to mind–cinnamon and caramel rolls topping the list. But if you take rolls over to the savory side, you can have a cheesy delicious bun that’s almost like a sandwich. In roll form. Great for any time of day, you don’t have to limit it to breakfast time to enjoy these delightful rolls.
We had planned to spend Father’s Day with my mom and dad. My sister texted me last week a recipe link to Food Network’s Father’s Day post with 5 savory takes on classic morning buns, saying “thought these would be fun”. I’ve been making savory rolls for many years, but perhaps I haven’t shared them with the fam for a while. So this time I made two flavors: pepperoni (like my pepperoni pinwheels) and this yummy ham & swiss version.
Considering it, I decided to give Food Network’s dough recipe a try. Sort of. I had to adjust it to simplify it AND add some sourdough starter. (But I did offer options for those who don’t do sourdough!) Also, I reduced the amount of butter. You really don’t need THAT much butter to get a good buttery taste! And I used a whole egg instead of just the yolk. Why waste the egg white?
Then I also had to bring in my own twist of flavor as well. I used my tarragon mustard sauce which pairs absolutely perfectly with ham & swiss. I had no leeks, so instead sauteed some sweet onions and peppers in a bit of butter. The result was just wonderful. My parents, sister, brother in law and nephew gobbled them up. Seriously, especially if you like ham & swiss, you’re going to LOVE these buns! The tarragon mustard sauce takes them over the top.
After I rolled the dough out, I slathered it with that fabulous sauce, sprinkled with ham, then the sauteed onions and peppers, and finally lots of swiss cheese. I took this photo with just a light sprinkle of cheese so you can see the layers.
Roll it up, wrap it and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to 2 days, and then slice and bake! I actually made the rolls at home, wrapped them in plastic wrap and took them along to bake them at Mom and Dad’s house. My dad’s oven is a little fussy, so I always struggle to get great results there, but these turned out delicious nonetheless!
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Savory Ham & Swiss Rolls
- Prep Time: 30 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: About 24 buns 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3/8 cup water
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 large egg
- 4 oz. sourdough starter (discard is fine) – or increase the active dry yeast to 1 Tablespoon
- 2 1/2 – 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 3 Tablespoons melted butter
For the filling:
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup tarragon mustard sauce (recipe here)
- 1 1/2 cups chopped ham
- 1/2 Tablespoon butter
- 1 medium onion
- 1/2 of a sweet bell pepper (preferably yellow, orange or red)
- 6 – 8 oz. shredded swiss cheese
Instructions
- To make the dough, put all dough ingredients except the melted butter into a stand mixer. Using the bread hook, mix at speed 2 alternating adding the butter and a bit more flour, until the dough comes together and cleans the side of the bowl. Knead for at least 3 minutes, adding flour as needed to keep the dough from getting too sticky. Cover the bowl and set in a warm place to rise until doubled, about an hour.
- While the dough is rising, make the tarragon mustard sauce and prep the filling ingredients. Once the dough has finished its first rise, on a clean floured surface, roll it out into a long rectangle about 10 inches wide and very very long. Try to roll it as thin as you can. If the dough doesn’t want to be thin, cover it and let rest for 5 – 10 minutes, then roll it again.
- Set the rectangle with the long end facing you. Slather the dough with the tarragon mustard sauce, leaving a one-inch space on the side away from you. Sprinkle with ham, then the sauteed onions and peppers. Sprinkle generously with cheese.
- Begin to roll up the roll, pushing the filling underneath as you roll so that when you get to the end you still have a little space. Wet the edge of the dough, then pull it up over and pat it into place to seal the log of dough. Tuck the ends over and seal to prevent the ingredients from falling out the end. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days.
- When it’s time to bake, spray a 13 x 9 x 2 pan with cooking spray or brush with oil. Slice the rolls in 1 – 1 1/2 inch slices and set them in the pan, reshaping as needed to make them round(ish) and leaving a bit of space between them if you can. Set the buns in the cold oven, set the oven to 400 F. and bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until the buns are golden brown and the cheese is starting to brown. If your oven overshoots (like my dad’s does), bake at 350 F. for 15 – 20 minutes and then turn up to 400 at the end to brown.
Notes
- You can also use a bread machine to mix the dough – or do it by hand.
- For more manageable sized logs, you may want to cut the dough in half before you roll it out.
Keywords: Ham, Swiss, Cheese, Yeast, Wild Yeast, Sourdough
