Pizza Pot Pie

This is one of those dinners that start out as one thing and ends up completely different from what you imagined.  This month is incredibly busy so I am trying to make having dinner not add to the stress of our lives but rather enhance it.  Our dinner time is the time we can sit down around the table and talk about our day, problem solve or even plan our next vacation.  I don’t want to be so stressed out from making dinner that I am not enjoying our conversations.

I saw the recipe for Pizza Pot Pie on Oh Bite It.com.  I made sure I had all the ingredients and then started  making the dish.  Of course I ended up changing the recipe to fit my family’s tastes.

Verdict:

This was a fairly heavy dish.  Everyone ate one slice with a green salad and it was plenty.  The flavors were good, the dish was easy to make but you need a hungry group to finish this dish.  Even after having three servings for lunch the next day I ended up throwing some of the leftovers away.

Ingredients:

• 1 box of Pillsbury Pie Crusts (2 pack)
• 2 cups Mozzarella, shredded
• 1 lb. Italian Sausage
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1/2 sweet onion, diced
• 4 TBSP Tomato Pesto
• dash of oregano
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• pepperoni slices
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9″ cake tin or round casserole dish with non-stick spray.
2. Cook sausage in a medium skillet over medium heat until cooked through.  Break the sausage up into small pieces with the back of the spoon while cooking.  Once sausage is cooked remove sausage from pan with a slotted spoon and place it on a plate covered with paper towels to absorb any excess grease.
3. Once all the sausage is removed from the pan add the peppers and onions and lower the heat to medium-low.  Allow the peppers and onions to cook to softened about 5-7 minutes stirring often.
4. While peppers and onions are cooking place cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, tomato pesto, oregano and parmesan cheese in a large bowl and stir to combine all the ingredients.
5. Once the peppers and onions are cooked add them to the cheese mixture with the sausage and stir until all ingredients are well mixed.
6. Press one pie crust into the bottom of the prepared dish.  Layer the bottom of the pie crust with sliced pepperoni to cover the whole bottom of the pan.
7. Add the meat and cheese mixture to the prepared dish and spread evenly in the dish.
8. Cover the mixture with the second pie crust and seal the edges all the way around by crimping with your fingers.
9. Add several slits in the top of the pie to let the steam escape.
10. Mix the egg with 1 TBSP of water until well beaten.  Brush the top of the pie with a bit of the egg wash.
11. Bake for 35-45 minutes until completely cooked through.
12. Remove from oven and allow to rest 5 minutes before cutting and serving.