Ham and Veggie Braid

Tonight I looked in my fridge and saw that I had quite a bit leftover ham from the other night. Armed with only a few veggies and some Pillsbury dough I decided to make a braid. They look great and are much easier than you think. Since I'm a huge Pampered Chef fan (used to even sell the stuff) I always bake on PC stones (I used the bar pan in this recipe). You can use a regular cookie sheet for this recipe ... just don't put it on the bottom rack like I advise or you run the risk of burning your dinner.

2 cups cooked, diced ham

1 cup broccoli, finely diced

1/2 cup red pepper, diced

3/4 cup shredded carrot

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tsp Dijon mustard

2 (235g) pkg Pillsbury regular crescent rolls

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375F. Move one oven rack to the bottom position. Place ham, broccoli, red pepper, carrot and cheddar cheese in a large bowl. Add mayonnaise and Dijon. Mix well. Set aside.

Unroll one package of crescent rolls; do not separate. Arrange longest sides of dough across the widge of a rectangular baking sheet (I use the Pampered Chef bar pan). Repeat with remaining crescent roll package.

Pinch seams with finger tips. With a rolling pin, roll dough to seal perforations. On the longest side of the baking sheet, cut dough into 1 1/2" strips. Make each strip approximately 3" deep. Do the same with the other long side of the dough (ensuring that there is about 5" of dough down the middle for the filling).

Spread ham mixture evenly over the middle length of the dough. To braid, lift strips of dough across the mixture to meet in the centre; twist each strip one turn. Continue alternating strips to form a braid on top of the ham mixture. Tuck ends up to seal at the ends of the braid.

Brush egg white over dough. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until deep golden brown. If using a baking stone, cook braid on lowest oven rack.

Tips:

1) The ham mixture can be made several hours ahead of time and kept in the fridge until needed.

2) Don't take the crescent rolls out of the fridge until right before you need them. They are much easier to handle when they're cold.