National Pie Day

Well actually it was yesterday, January 23th. 

To celebrate, I made these tasty savory pies. Mini Italian potpies to be exact. 

The recipe below comes from Martha and serves 4 (my ramekins are 7 ounces so I actually got 5 servings).  I stumbled upon this recipe on my Martha Stewart Every Day Food app on my iPhone. (Yes, Martha is everywhere I go.) Overall, this meal was a hit! I swapped out the ground beef sirloin for extra lean ground turkey and used skim milk to help make this meal a little lighter...Hey, it's still January and people still have their resolutions to follow!

Italian Potpies:  

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 pound ground beef sirloin, thawed if frozen

2 cups homemade or best-quality store-bought tomato sauce

1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup whole milk  

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with rack in lowest position. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add onion and carrots; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Add beef, and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce; bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until meat mixture has thickened, 8 to 10 minutes; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, Parmesan, baking powder, rosemary, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; make a well in center, and add butter and milk. Stir just until dough comes together.

Spoon meat mixture into four 8-ounce ramekins; mound dough on top. Place on a large rimmed baking sheet; bake until topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in topping comes out clean, 10 to 12 minutes.