Pulled Pork Crescent Rolls

Pulled pork crescent rolls are about the easiest party food you can make from leftover pulled pork. Warm 2 cups of chopped pork with a little barbecue sauce, let it cool for a few minutes, then roll it into crescent dough triangles with sharp cheddar and bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden. Two cans of dough make 16 rolls, enough for a crowd watching a game.

They are best still warm, with extra sauce for dipping. The only trick is keeping the filling on the dry side. A wet, saucy filling soaks the dough from the inside and leaves the bottoms pale and soft.

At a glance: makes 16 rolls, about 8 servings as a snack. Prep 20 minutes with pulled pork on hand, cook about 20 minutes, cool 15 minutes.

Asked what he says over and over on the farm, Gray Shipley, who runs it, said:

“Leave people better off than we found them.”

Gray Shipley

He meant how the farm treats people, not what to bring to a party, and we will not stretch his words further than that. Feeding people is still one plain way to leave them a little better off, and a warm tray of these does it with very little fuss.

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked pulled pork, chopped, about 3/4 pound
• 1/3 cup barbecue sauce, plus more for dipping
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar, about 4 ounces
• 2 cans (8 ounces each) refrigerated crescent roll dough, 8 rolls per can
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced (optional)
• 1/4 cup pickled jalapeno slices, chopped (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment.
2. Chop the pulled pork into small pieces, so there are no long strands to poke through the dough. Warm it in a skillet over medium heat with the barbecue sauce, stirring, until it is steaming hot, 4 to 5 minutes. An instant-read thermometer should read 165 degrees F, the USDA FSIS figure for leftovers. The pork should be coated, not wet.
3. Spread the pork on a plate and let it cool for 10 minutes, until just warm. Stir in the cheddar, and the scallions and jalapenos if using.
4. Unroll the dough and separate the triangles. Put about 3 tablespoons of filling across the wide end of each one, roll toward the point, and pinch the sides so the filling is closed in. Set the rolls point side down, 2 inches apart, on the sheets.
5. Brush the tops with the melted butter.
6. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, swapping the pans halfway, until the rolls are deep golden on top and underneath.
7. Let them cool on the pans for 5 minutes, then serve warm with more barbecue sauce for dipping.

Add 1 boneless pork butt roast to cart

Starting from a pork butt

These rolls are made with leftover pulled pork, and the cart button above adds a raw boneless pork butt roast, not cooked pulled pork. If you have none in the fridge, cook the roast first, a day or more ahead. Rub it with salt, pepper and a little brown sugar, set it in a pan with 1/2 cup of water, cover it tightly with foil, and roast at 275 degrees for 3 hours. Uncover it and keep going until it pulls apart with a fork, roughly 1 1/2 hours per pound in all. It is safe once it reaches 145 degrees F and rests 3 minutes, but it only shreds at about 195 to 205 degrees F.

Pull the meat, throw away the large pieces of fat, and moisten it with some of the pan juices. One batch of these rolls takes about 2 cups. Refrigerate the rest within two hours, or freeze it flat in bags for sandwiches and another batch later.

Keep the filling dry

Crescent dough is thin and soft, and anything wet inside it turns to paste. Use just enough barbecue sauce to coat the pork, and save the rest for dipping. Warming the pork with the sauce helps it cling rather than pool. Let the filling cool before it goes in, too: hot filling melts the butter in the dough, and the rolls tear and leak.

Chopping matters as much as the sauce. Long strands of pulled pork catch on the dough as you roll and poke out of the sides. A few passes with a knife fixes it.

A crescent ring for a party

For a centerpiece instead of separate rolls, arrange the triangles on a parchment-lined sheet in a sunburst, wide ends overlapping in a 5-inch circle in the middle and points facing out. Spoon the filling in a ring over the wide ends, then fold each point back over the filling and tuck it under the inner edge. Brush with butter and bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, until deep golden. Slide it onto a board and set a bowl of sauce in the middle.

Variations

Swap the cheddar for pepper jack if you like some heat, or split the baked rolls and add a spoonful of coleslaw for a barbecue sandwich in miniature. A thin vinegar sauce makes a sharper roll and a thick tomato sauce a sweeter one; both work. For a bigger gathering, the guide below on feeding a crowd has more ideas.

Make ahead and leftovers

You can fill and roll the crescents up to 2 hours ahead and keep them covered in the fridge on their baking sheets. Bake them straight from the fridge, adding a minute or two. Refrigerate leftovers within two hours, and reheat them on a baking sheet in a 350-degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until the filling reaches 165 degrees F. The microwave works but leaves them soft.

Food safety

USDA FSIS lists 145 degrees F, followed by a rest of at least 3 minutes, as the safe minimum internal temperature for pork roasts, which a pork butt passes long before it will pull. Leftovers should be reheated to 165 degrees F, which is why the filling is warmed through before it is rolled. Check it, and any reheated rolls, with an instant-read thermometer. See the FSIS Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart.