Someone's In the Kitchen With Momma

As Price stumbles towards the terrible twos, I find that he's into EVERYTHING.  He's currently happiest when crawling into tight, dark spaces such as the depths of his closet or laying under his bed with dust bunnies and who knows what other creatures...  So, I try my hardest to keep him in my line of vision.  Something I've recently started doing is trying to get him to "help" (I use that term verrryyyy loosely) me cook.  He has a pretty short attention span, but he really enjoys getting to stand on a chair.  Thanks to him, I will become an expert at mis en place, rather than pulling ingredients as I read need them.  The other day, Price helped me make Pepperoni Pizza Pie.

Turning the food processor off and on was a big hit!

My dough boy!  He was covered in flour.

Teamwork.  

In full disclosure, we weren't able to actually roll out the crust, we ended up just pressing the dough into the pie plate.

Luckily, the pepperoni provided a good pre-lunch snack.  Don't worry, no eggs had been added yet.  Don't you want to snack on those cheeks?

Pepperoni Pizza Pie, adapted from Carnation Recipe published at lynnskitchenadventures.com (my changes are in italics)

1 unbaked (9 in) pie shell (I made my own crust, but a store bought would work fine)
8 ounces of shredded cheese
2 ounces of sliced pepperoni (I used about 30 slices)
1 (12 ounce can) Carnation evaporated milk
3 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
a dash of crushed red peppers

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle 1 cup of cheese and half of the pepperoni onto the bottom of the pie shell.  Whisk together the milk, eggs, flour, basil, and garlic powder.  Pour into pie shell. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top and carefully lay pepperoni on top of cheese.  Bake for 40-45 minutes or until done.

This recipe was easy and delicious!  I will definitely make it again.  However, notice the cook time (mine was done at about 35 minutes, but my oven cooks hot).   I had originally planned to make this for dinner on Wednesday, but Price and I got an unexpected dinner invitation and then I planned to make it on Thursday, but I overlooked how long it would take to bake.  So, we actually made it for lunch on Friday, then munched on the leftovers for several more meals.  This recipe is super versatile- it would be so easy to change up the meat and cheese or even leave the meat out all together and add some veggies.  It has a slightly different texture than quiche, but is the same general idea, which also makes it a great any time meal- we ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.