Today I need to give a little shout out to my good friend Chris,...who I have never met, but I've become one of his many stalkers so I think of him as a friend, but whatever, for this post, he will be my good friend, heck, I'll even go as far as to call him my best friend! Chris, at Nibble Me This, comes up with some of the best recipes on the world wide web...no lie. My best friend Chris is personally responsible for my three pound weight gain when I made this. And I made this so many times the mister asked if I had developed some new fetish for sweet potatoes! When Chris posted about how to Fire Roast Tomatoes, in winter, when they have no taste, well, what can I say, he will forever hold a place in my heart! So, when I read his post for Spaghetti and Meatball Pot Pie, it was like the skies opened and the angels began to sing that old familiar song: Buy Elastic Waist Pants!
Chris got the idea for his Spaghetti and Meatball Pot Pie from a TV show that featured a Chicago restaurant that makes this kind of dish. A quick search of the web will give you a dozen different recipes that are similar to Chris', including one from Giada. I will definitely make Chris' recipe in the future...leftover spaghetti and meatballs will be turned into pot pie from now on! But on the very day Chris posted his recipe, The Boy and I had lunch at The Acropolis in Kirkland (I eat in Kirkland as much as I eat at home! If you haven't tried the Acropolis, do so if you're in the neighborhood...you might have to wait a bit because the place is always packed and there are always a couple of cop cars in the parking lot, a sure bet the food is good if cops eat there!) and we both ordered their Meatball Grinder, The Boy's favorite sandwich. It was good...but The Boy, to my utter delight said, "Mom, your meatballs are better!" The inside of my tiny black heart was warmed almost to the point of high speed tachycardia! It's comments like that have led to the continuation of the human race.
Chris used a sensible approach in making his pot pie...he used left-over meatballs from a previous meal and he didn't say whether he used sauce or dough that was purchased, but I'm assuming he did. So while there are a lot of steps to this dish, if you make everything from scratch, you can speed it all up and make it super easy by buying frozen meatballs, bottled sauce and pizza dough...then this can be on the table in under 30 minutes. But, if you're a glutton for punishment like me (or just a glutton, like me) then you can do what I did...make the Meatballs and Sauce from scratch...and make the Pizza Dough from scratch...then take a 30 minute nap followed by 3 Advil.
Just take a minute and let that picture soak in...they are beautiful, no? And they taste every bit as good as they look...I promise! The bottom of the ramekins are coated with Mozzarella cheese and an Italian cheese blend - then the meatballs are put in - I used 5-inch ramekins, and each one held six meatballs, which were then drenched in sauce (out of this world good) and topped with more cheese. IF you decide to make your own meatballs and sauce - try my family recipe - it can't be beat...they are the best meat-a-balls and sauce outside of the Motherland, which is were the recipe came from. These made a HUGE serving...so if you're not feeding NFL linebackers, or a ravenous mister, you could use smaller ramekins which would probably be best for kids.
Grinder Cups - Inspired by Chris of Nibble Me This
**You will need eight 5-inch ramekins for this recipe or you can use smaller ramekins and adjust the ingredients.)
1 recipe of pizza dough, found here, makes two pizzas and you will need both, or purchase pizza dough, enough for two large pizzas
48 meatballs, recipe found here, approximately 1 to 1 1/2-inches in diameter, (if you use my recipe you will have about a dozen leftover meatballs...cook's bonus!) or you can purchase frozen meatballs and cook according to package directions
4 cups spaghetti sauce, recipe found here, or you can use purchased sauce
3 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese or 2 cups shredded Italian cheese Blend (Parmesan, Mozzarella and Romano)
1 stick butter, melted, for brushing on tops of dough
garlic salt, to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Once the meatballs, sauce and pizza dough are made you can begin assembling the grinders. Roll out pizza dough so it's a scant 1/2-inch thick, or a little less. Cut out dough so that it is at least 1/2-inch larger that the ramekin you are using. In the bottom of the ramekins, put 2 heaping tablespoons of the cheese. Top with 6 meatballs, or 5, whatever you can get in without squeezing them too much. Pour sauce over the tops of the meatballs, filling the ramekin almost to the top. Sprinkle an addition 2 heaping tablespoons of cheese on top of the sauce.
Cover tops of the ramekins with dough, pressing around the edges and on the sides (dough should come down at least a half-inch over the sides of the ramekins.) Brush tops of dough with melted butter and sprinkle on garlic salt to taste.
Put Grinders in oven to bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until tops are golden brown. Remove and let cool for about 5 minutes. Using a hot-pad, carefully hold the ramekin, upside down, and carefully twist it off, away from the baked dough, creating your Grinder Cups. Serves 8. (These are great reheated the next day, reheat in the oven, covered with foil for 15 minutes at 350 degrees, not the microwave, or the bread will be hard as the rock of Gibraltar.)
These will be perfect for football games this fall, or after a trip to the pumpkin patch or my annual imaginary hay-ride through the pasture... and the mister, instead of eating his with a knife and fork, picked it up, folded the bread almost in half and said, "Now this is how a Grinder should be eaten!" He's not as dumb as he looks!
