Somehow the laziest version of parenting has us packing Mila's lunch every day. It's a weird little loop, but, yes. Lazy. The lazy is why I'm always looking for things to make for her that will travel well.
Pizza Puffs!
I've been meaning to make tiny fist-sized pizzas for the Tiny Human for a while and finally got around to figuring out a recipe that is meatless and that maximized the cheese. Because cheese. Cheese is Mila's love language.
So is dip. If she could dip cheese in cheese and call it lunch, she totally would. While I didn't go quite that far, I did let her dip her Pizza Puffs in pizza sauce and that was enough for her to double-fist them. Repeatedly.
I imagine grown-ups would as well. These make a great appetizer, or pair them with salad for a pretty fabulous meal. (I know it's a fabulous meal because it's exactly what we had for dinner tonight.)
Pizza Puffs (makes 24 mini puffs)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (divided) (alternately -- use a mix of mozzarella and parmesan)
Pizza sauce
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Find a mini muffin pan that will bake 24 at a time and spray non-stick spray all over that thing. Now spray a little more non-stick spray because cheese. Cheese sticks.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, oregano, salt, and basil. Whisk lightly to mix.
3. Add the milk and egg. Use a fork to mix everything up really well.
4. Stir in 1 cup of shredded cheese.
5. Place a little bit of the mixture into each of the muffin cup spots.
6. Top each one with about a teaspoon of cheese. It's not worth actually measuring it -- just use up the remaining 1 cup of cheese that you have sitting there.
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.
8. As soon as you remove the pan from the oven, use a butter knife to score around the side of each puff and pry it out of the muffin pan.
9. Serve with pizza sauce.
10. All forms of pizza are excellent forms of pizza, no?