Filling Ideas!
The filling is really fun to think up- what do you like to eat- right- just toss it all in there (precooked of course). Here are a few ideas and recipes:
Lasagne: What I did here was brown some ground beef and make a spaghetti sauce. In the hand pie, I put a dollop of the sauce, then added ricotta and some olives. Tip: Spread the ricotta on the bottom, don't dollop it in- apparently the meat reheats really fast, but the ricotta stays frozen!
Pizza: Just spread a little homemade pizza sauce, add mossarella cheese and pepperoni and olives. Or sausage! Or pineapple and ham- lots of variations here!
Chicken, Broccoli and Provolone: Fry up some chicken breast with good spices (I generally use garlic, onion, oregano... whatever I happen to have). Thaw a bag of frozen broccoli. Get sliced provolone and cut the slices in half. Put half a slice of provolone on the bread, then add a spoonful of broccoli and cooked chicken. I usually put a 1/4 slice of provolone on top then cover it up! You could also try mozzarella instead of provolone and spinach instead of broccoli. Try adding a little minced garlic.
Ham & Cheddar: Cut sandwich meat up into small pieces and add that and a little grated cheddar. You could really do any kind of sandwich meat or really any cooked meat!
Veggies in a white sauce: This one promises to be messy- but OH so yummy. Make a thicker white sauce to decrease drips. Add meat for a pot pie taste.
Marinara Chicken: Yeah, just like it says- a spoonful of marinara, some chicken chunks, maybe a little cheese? (We love cheese)
Cream Cheese Chicken: 2 c shredded chicken, 3 oz cream cheese, 1tbsp dried chives and 1 tbsp milk. Mix with your hands.
Chicken with Feta: Cubed/shredded cooked chicken with feta cheese and olives.
Black and Bleu: Browned ground beef, black pepper and bleu cheese.
Pierogies: Red potatoes, cooked and cubed. Add to sauteed onions along with a little bacon bits and parsley. Add a dollop to the dough and add some grated cheddar.
(Thanks to the mamas at DSD for the awesome handpie filling ideas!)