Remember those meatballs I made for a “special idea” on Friday? Here is that idea, Spaghetti and Meatball Pot Pie.
Before you mistakenly think I am a cooking whiz, I am actually just an opportunist. I saw the “Pizza Pot Pie” from Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Company on TV and told myself I am going to make that. Then Steph of Plain Chicken beatme to it and made her version last week.
I took the concept and figured if pizza was a good pot pie, then spaghetti and meat balls would be too. This isn't as much a recipe as it is a process.
I started by greasing the inside of ramekins (1 cup sized, 3 1/2” in diameter). Then I put in a mix of white and mild cheddar cheese.
Next I add in two of the meatballs and sauce.
Top that with some vermicelli that had been tossed in the sauce too.
Another piece of cheese.
For the crust, we made one order of our standard pizza dough and then cut out 3 1/2” circles. You can make your own, buy a ball from your local pizzeria, or even use refrigerated dough.
I rolled those out a little bigger and then pressed them over the top of the ramekins.
Since I wanted the crust to be reminiscent of garlic bread, I made a glaze of butter, roasted garlic, parsley and thyme. I brushed them once at the beginning and then again during the baking.
I fired up Alexis' Big Green Egg to 450f and set it up in “convection oven” mode with the plate setter legs down.
I baked the pot pies on a pizza stone on the plate setter. You could do these in your oven or in a regular grill set up indirect, but in my opinion, this is where the ceramic cookers like Big Green Egg and Primo can't be beat.
About 15 minutes in, they started to brown.
We gave them the second baste of garlic butter and then let them go another 5 minutes.
They are done when the crust is crispy and golden. Carefully remove to a rack and let cool for a few minutes.
Invert the pot pie on a plate and remove the ramekin to serve. The trick is to give the bowl a sharp twist and then pull up.
The only question now is, do you eat it with your hands or with a knife and fork?
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Garnished with red pepper flake and parsley. |
These were seriously good. It was like baked spaghetti in a garlic bread bowl.
The only two things I would do differently the next time is double the cheese and invert it as soon as I can tolerate handling the ramekin. I let it sit too long and the cheese had started to harden.
I absolutely can't wait to try this again. We impressed ourselves with this one.
You've impressed me too - wow! What a brilliant idea, I love it. I've seen pizza pot pie before but this looks even better. Your meatballs look soooo good!
ReplyDeleteThis is so fun! Plus, I want to eat one right now :D
ReplyDeleteI like how you saved the "money shot" right until the end, it really wowed me! I think this is a genius idea and one that I'll have to try. My daughter would totally flip out.
ReplyDeleteWhat a super fun idea!! I know 3 kids and 3 big kids that would love this. I love how you've inverted it and the bread makes its own bowl, how creative & clever!!!!
ReplyDeleteWow, those look fantastic. Something tells me I'm gonna have to give those a try once the family gets home.
ReplyDeleteOMGosh! It's 8:33 AM and I know exactly what I'm having for dinner! These look Heavenly! Cute and clever and brushing the top with garlic butter - what a stroke of genius! Honestly, at the rate I'm going, I either need to grow another 5 inches or another leg just to keep the scale balanced! But whatever pounds these little babies add will be worth it! xo, Nan
ReplyDeleteChris! Man, these do look great! One of the coolest grill recipes I've seen this year!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely can't wait to try it either.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I get pasta back in my diet (darn insulin anyway) I am making this. love your blog.
ReplyDeleteThis is seriously clever. Also, this strikes me as very kid friendly too.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading and reading and was waiting for them to go in the oven but there is the Egg. What a relief... you didn't go to the dark side. I really want one now for a bed time snack. You need to send that last photo to Tastespotting.
ReplyDeleteThis is most impressive! I'm learning so much about grilling from you, Chris. I had no idea that you could do so much with your Egg. Here I was thinking that it was pretty awesome we finally figured out how to use our grill properly!
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of baking bread in a smoker/grill either. I'm off to search your archives and check that out now.
Epitome of all things inventive.. love the idea, Chris!
ReplyDeleteThese are so different and pretty. I just received my first set of ramekins for my wedding and these look like the perfect way to break them out!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful idea!That looks fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI will make this definately and will give you full credit. Yummy.
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ReplyDeleteI was expecting this to look disgusting. It actually doesn't!
ReplyDeleteWow, this is awesome Chris. Iwas planning on making Meatballs and Spaghetti Wednesday night, but I think I am going to make this instead!
ReplyDeleteYUM! My family will love this recipe! Thanks, Chris!
ReplyDeleteKim in MD
What a fantastic idea! Fun and delicious :)
ReplyDeletei was dying with every picture, this looks incredible!! what a fun idea!
ReplyDeleteOMG Chris. That is awesome. I really need to try this out. What a great idea!
ReplyDeleteWowza...what a fun idea! Besides getting a taste of everything in one bite, it's such a neat (literally and figuratively) way to serve it.
ReplyDeleteHaha everything that happens in my kitchen is "a process", that's for sure! And these might have to be my next process. I love the looks of them flipped upside down!
ReplyDeletePasta and pastry? You are killing me with creativity! GREG
ReplyDeleteI saw the title of your post and thought what is this beast? I love it! I made the pizza pot pies before and they were a hit - this is next!
ReplyDeleteChris That looks great I am going to try that real soon. Thanks for sharing your ideas and tips with us.
ReplyDeleteThese look SO good! And what a unique idea :D
ReplyDelete-Carrie
I have now made these twice...the first time I made the mistake of only making one for each of us...not nearly enough! Today I made them for some friends for lunch - they could NOT stop talking about them...how cute, how clever, low good...blah, blah...so later this week I'm going to post them, of course, I will mention how I stole your idea and what a genius you are and just so you khow, in my next life I'm going to be your neighbor! Thanks - this one is a keeper! xo, Nan
ReplyDeleteChris- I need to make this for Scott. He would be in heaven. He loves loves pot pies and also always complains I don't make Italian food enough.
ReplyDeletewhat a great idea!!
You've certainly impressed me! I'm thinking you should send this to a magazine - especially if there's a cash prize. Wow!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a winner! Love the ramekins, but I could also see this done in a bigger baking pan. Great photos too!
ReplyDeleteYumfrickinO This sounds incredible Chris and I want one now.
ReplyDeleteHOW COOL ARE YOU???? Yes, you deserve all caps. I am loving this one Chris.
ReplyDeleteYou are SO FREAKIN' GENIUS!! Love that idea.
ReplyDeleteThese little gems look absolutely amazing!! I think you impressed more than just yourselves :)
ReplyDeleteAt what temperature and for how long if I bake them in the oven? Can't wait to try tehm!
ReplyDeleteOh. My. Gosh.
ReplyDeleteThese look absolutely delicious!! What a fun and relatively easy idea--they are perfect little individual sizes and would be great paired with a caesar salad. Definitely trying them soon!
Thanks again, Chris, for a wonderful recipe with great photos!
These are uber impressive, absolutely adorable, and so creative! What a unique idea!
ReplyDeletemaking these tonight
ReplyDeleteOh my I MUST make these - brilliant!!!!
ReplyDeleteIncredible! This dish looks great. Going to try it next week.
ReplyDeletethis is pretty much freakin genius
ReplyDeleteyeah!! you are a genius!!
ReplyDeleteSweet baby Jesus this looks delicious.
ReplyDeletewhen i read the description i though ewww nasty....
ReplyDeletebut i'm really impressed they look delicious. =)
dinner tomorrow. just made homemade meatballs n sauce for freezer. clever twist on boring spaghetti. thank you!!
ReplyDeleteThis is a REALLY cool idea! I bet kids would love this. How fun!
ReplyDeleteGenius. Wow!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://dandelionamazingblog.blogspot.com/
This is a wonderful recipe, thanks so much for sharing. You did a great job with the images too; I will definitely try this recipe this weekend.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! This looks delicious and super cute! :)
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing, looks good.
ReplyDeleteWOW! You impressed me to;). I hope to try them. And I'll remember about inverting them before they cool to much. Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeletei'm hungry after seeing this! wow...
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing, I must try it!
ReplyDeleteI want to make those! They are so neat. Maybe that will be supper next week sometime. :)
ReplyDeleteAwww, I tried commenting and it said my Google account wasn't allowed. Attempting again to see if it was a fluke.
ReplyDeleteGah, it was! Anyway, to sum up my previous comment attempt:
ReplyDeleteThe last picture made me think it was a stuffed portobello mushroom at first.
I love that you easily could've only put a small portion of bread dough in the top and eaten it out of the ramekin, but instead, you intentionally made it into a bread bowl big enough to dump the contents into.
And I'd probably eat it with my hands if the bread were sturdy enough and then switch to a fork once it started falling apart.
Wow...that looks seriously good! I love the idea, very creative. Thanks for sharing! I might be trying this sometime very soon!
ReplyDeleteWilla
I will try this For dinner tomorrow, Amazing
ReplyDeleteI will deffinately be trying this out. It looks deeelish
ReplyDeleteCreative and sounds yummy!
ReplyDeleteWHAT?!?! You just blew my mind with this! I've seen lasagne cupcakes, but this is even better! I can't wait to try it. GREAT IDEA! Thanks for the post. P.S. More cheese is always better :-P
ReplyDeleteI simply can't wait to make this thanks so much...
ReplyDeleteLooks really good! Don't know why no one has thought of this before. It's a great idea!
ReplyDeleteWow, surprising idea and perfect effect. Yummy.
ReplyDeleteThis is funny and great idea! it looks delicious too..
ReplyDeleteWhat a clever idea! This looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun and creative idea! I'm going to have to give it a try. :)
ReplyDeletelove this idea! so creative! :)
ReplyDeleteI don't have an egg can I make these in the oven? And do you think I could use crescent rolls instead of pizza dough? Looks delish tho! Great idea!
ReplyDeleteAnon - Sure, you can make it in the oven.
ReplyDeletePizza dough is better to me, but you could try crescent roll dough. The problem I run into with that is trying to re-roll the preformed dough into different shapes.
Chris did you preheat the pizza stone in the egg or put the ramekins on it and then onto the egg at room temp?
ReplyDeleteYes, the pizza stone was already in the Egg while it warmed up.
ReplyDeleteSo I also seen the Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Company pot pie pizza they make but decided to make my own version of a white pot pie pizza. "In order" olive oil the ramekins, then add Mozzarella first in the ramekins, Mushrooms, roasted red peppers, fried garlic, chopped up shrimp, Italian sausage, any kind of crab, Alfredo white sauce, parmesan cheese, provolone cheese.....then the awesome Crusty dough recipe from this link. Absolutely amazing!!!!
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