Mini Mozzarella Meat Pies

This was my favorite entree as a child, so what a better place to start this blog? This is also a good quick & easy midweek meal for the entire family.  As your kids get older, this is a good "big helper" recipe...you can have them press the dough into the pie plate, much like playing with play dough, while you make the filling and then they can help put the cheese on top.  It's one of the first recipes I remember helping/learning to "cook" with my mom, probably another reason why it was one of my favorites (because I got to help!).

Mozzarella Meat Pie
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time:  Mini Pies 12-14 min / 9" Pie 15-10 min
Yield:  24 Mini Pies or 1 (9") pie [6-8 servings]

Ingredients
1 (8 oz) can Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
1 lb ground beef or ground chuck
1/4 c finely chopped onion
1/3 c finely chopped celery
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
(I use Hunt's no salt added variety)
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. salt (may be omitted)
Dash of pepper
1c Mozzarella Cheese (separated)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Use cooking spray on a mini muffin pan
3. Separate crescent dough into rectangles and cut each rectangle into 6 pieces with kitchen shears (see diagram below)

4. Press out dough squares and place into greased mini muffin pan

5. Brown meat with celery and onion, drain

6. Add tomato paste, seasonings, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and mix well.

7. Put 1 heaping Tablespoon in each crescent dough shell

8. Top with a pinch of Mozzarella cheese

9. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until crust is golden brown

10. Serve and Enjoy!  (if feeding to children, remove from pan and allow to cool on wire rack)

(The cheese on your mini pies will look more melted....I used non dairy cheese on these due to my child's food allergy)

**note: you can freeze leftovers and warm them in the oven**

Adult Variation
You can press crescent dough into a greased 9" pie plate (mine is glass). Place meat mixture in crust

and top with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, until crust is golden brown (You may need to adjust the cook time if you use a metal or dark colored pan). Makes 6-8 servings. Enjoy!

Pairs well with peas, green beans or broccoli and a salad.

The Food Critic thoroughly enjoyed this recipe! She ate 5 of them!

Introduction

I am a stay at home mom of a toddler with a milk protein allergy who wants to make meals for the family, but also meals that my daughter (aka The Food Critic) will enjoy.  It's my mission to take family recipes and "mini-size" them for little eaters.  I am going to try to post as many photos as possible with any recipes I post, but some may look different when you cook them, as I am using some non dairy ingredients (ex. Non dairy cheese melts/browns differently).