Not Mashed Potatoes

Hello Fellow Eaters!

It's crazy how life can get so busy, it just spins you around and a month can pass way too quickly. Between traveling, sickness, heartbreak, and more laughing than any group of friends should be allowed to do, I did manage to keep cooking (not so much during sickness..ugh), but I have missed writing about it. So now I have to back track a bit to my first week home which was right after traveling and sickness.

Heartbreak-
The reason is a long tale that I won't tell here...BUT it caused me to cook so I will tell you about that!

I needed something to be creative with, but I also wanted comfort food. When ever I think of comfort food I think of something warm, buttery, a bit starchy, and flavorful. Well, I didn't want to eat a pot of mashed potatoes so I came up with something slightly more healthy that included potatoes.

I think I am slightly addicted to using this pie crust (atleast until I learn to make my own, which I hear, [from Crystal P.S.- She is GENIUS!!] is not that difficult at all!) and I decided to use it to make mini tarts. I grabbed my new food processor for it's first time use ever (!!!) and threw in some carrots, onions, and cooked sausage, until it was (not pureed) a nice looking mix. I sauteed all of that in olive oil (and a small bit of the sausage fat, left over from cooking, for flavor) along with spinach, garlic and (TA-DA) some potatoes. During the sauteeing I added some salt, pepper, and a bit of paprika. While I left the mixture to cool a bit, I attended to the dough.

After rolling the dough out on a floured surface. I turned a cup over and used a knife to trace around the mouth of the cup. I place each little circle into the greased muffin tin, pressing slightly into each cup. I filled each cup with the veggie and sausage mixture and topped with cheese. I alternated between cheddar and muenster. In the ones I topped with cheddar I also layered a small pat of cream cheese between 2 layers of the filling. What I ended up with were these delicious (more healthy than a huge pot of yummy mashed potatoes) miniature pies!

Until next time (which should be sooner rather than later)!