Sausage Melt with Sweet Tomato Jam

A sweet and savory appetizer with sausage, cheddar and tomato jam served on a Triscuit and dusted with powdered sugar and chives.

The final challenge in the Summer Snackoff contest hosted by Triscuit and Martha Stewart has ended. Cherry tomatoes had to be used along with at least one other ingredient and any flavor Triscuit. If I’m going to win this contest, I had to be creative with so many different recipes being submitted. You can’t just toss a few tomatoes on a cracker. I need to catch Martha’s keen eye and sophisticated palate to make the finals. Of course, after that, it’s up for public voting. But I have a lot to discuss with Martha, so I need to win!

Months ago, I posted my recipe for Piggy Puffs, which is a sweet and savory appetizer. It has sausage, bacon, cheese and raspberry jam baked on top of puff pastry, and I finish it off with a dusting of powdered sugar. It’s like a party in your mouth with all the flavors. So, I thought I’d make an adaptation of that recipe for this final contest challenge. My entry, Sausage Melts with Sweet Tomato Jam on a Triscuit, has sausage, melted cheddar, sweet tomato jam and is dusted with powdered sugar.

My garden is abundant with tomatoes, so the tomato requirement for this last challenge was perfect. I made a really simple tomato jam, which is quite rich and has a good depth of flavor.  It’ll be delicious on sandwiches, bruschetta, or grilled meats too. And it takes minutes to make. Although I had to use cherry tomatoes for the contest, I also made some with roma tomatoes, which made a heavier jam. 

Makes about 16

• 16 slices of sausage, any flavor
• 16 slices of cheddar, cut into triangles
• 16 Original Thin Crisp Triscuits
• snipped chives for garnish
• powdered sugar for dusting

Tomato Jam:

• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, or roma tomatoes, rough chopped
• 1 T sugar
• 1½ tsp. apple cider vinegar
• ½ tsp. Sambal Oelek (found in the Asian food aisle)

Combine tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, and Sambal Oelek in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil on medium high heat. Stir constantly for about 10 minutes until it reaches a jam consistency. Remove from heat.

Brown the whole sausage in a little oil. Slice and place on the Triscuit. Top with a piece of cheddar and place under the broiler for a minute or two to melt the cheese. Put a scoop of tomato jam on top of the cheese. Sprinkle with snipped chives and dust with powdered sugar.