Inspired

Cold temperatures and a professor's New Year's resolution to bake pies inspired me to try making a meatball pie.  As he noted, his resolution was to make pies, not homemade crusts, or meatballs from scratch. Sometimes, I make homemade sauce but for today's recipe, I used store-bought sauce. This simple recipe is adapted from one offered by Better Homes and Gardens.

I learned the trick of making lattice pie crust from the folks at Inspired Taste.

Meatball Pie

Ingredients

2 refrigerated pie crusts

1 egg, lightly beaten

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup ricotta cheese

2 teaspoons dried basil, crushed

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 pound (approx. 23) frozen cooked Italian meatballs, thawed

1 24 ounce jar purchased tomato and basil pasta sauce or marinara sauce

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (6 ounces)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Thaw meatballs by cooking for 2 minutes in the microwave.
3. Grease a 2-quart square baking dish. Take crust out and bring to room temperature (15 minutes) Spread crust out in glass dish. Prick crust and bake 10 minutes. Take out of the oven and reduce temperature to 350 degrees F.
4. In a small bowl stir together the egg, the ricotta cheese, the basil, and the pepper. Spread ricotta cheese mixture over crust. Spoon 3/4 cup of the pasta sauce over layers in pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese.
5. Toss meatballs with 3/4 cup of the pasta sauce and 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Arrange meatball mixture over layers, forming a mound. Top with 1/2 cup of the remaining pasta sauce (reserve remaining pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese).
6. Cut second crust into ¾” lattice strips and cover the layers*.
   
 

7. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes more or until heated through. Watch for browning and tent pie lightly with foil if needed. 


8. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes to melt cheese.
9. Let stand, uncovered, on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut pie into wedges. Heat and pass remaining pasta sauce.

Lattice pie crust: Cut one 9" refrigerated pie crust into ¾ inch strips. Lay 5 strips across pie. Pull #2 and #4 back toward you and lay a strip perpendicular to the three remaining strips. Lay #2 and #4 back flat. Pull back #1, #3 and #5. Lay another perpendicular strip and then lay #1, #3 and #5 flat. Repeat until the lattice is completed. Crimp edges together with your fingers. Watch a short video at Inspired Taste.