Teena Anderson, owner of Anoka Meats & Sausage shows us how she makes her Pizza Pot Pies

Ingredients

• 1 pound pizza dough (store-bought or homemade). For today’s purposes I am using store bought pizza crust in the tube from the refrigerated section.
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• Nonstick cooking spray for the bowls
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage from Anoka Meats
• 1/2 large onion diced
• 1 Tblsp chopped or minced garlic
• 12-14 whole baby bella, or button mushrooms
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 Tblsp sugar
• 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
• 24 slices deli cut mozzerella
• 2 Tblsp butter melted
• 1/4 tsp garlic salt/powder
• Fresh Basil for topping, optional

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add the sausage, and saute until browned. Continue cooking until sausage is fully cooked.
3. Add the Italian seasoning and garlic and saute until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add the crushed tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste; stir and simmer for about 10 minutes. Let cool completely.
4. Spray the insides of 4 ovenproof bowls or crocks with a generous amount of cooking spray.
5. Use your finger to also grease the outer edge of the bowl just slightly, to allow dough to slide out easily later. Overlap 5 slices of cheese inside each bowl, fully covering the bottom, and going up the sides.
6. Place 3 to 4 mushrooms on top of the cheese. Then spoon about 1/2 cup COOLED sausage and sauce over the mushrooms. Add onion to any pizzas that want onion, a must in my book!
7. Then add 1 piece of cheese on the top of the sauce.
8. Split the dough into 4 equal portions big enough to cover the top of your bowls. You will want a 1-inch overhang over the side of each bowl.
9. Place a round of dough on top of each bowl. Gently pull down and press the dough around the edges to create a seal. Do not cut a hole or vent the dough. Place the bowls on a sheet pan. You can line the pan with foil for easy clean-up.
10. Bake until the crust is just lightly golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool a few minutes, then brush the tops with butter melted with the garlic salt/powder.
11. Very carefully turn over each bowl onto a plate. Gently insert a small knife around the inside of the crust rim to help loosen and separate it from the bowl if needed. Lift the bowl away and allow the pizza pot pie to form its own crust bowl on the plate!
12. Garnish with parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

Notes

• Pizza Sauce Recipe: Add a tablespoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, and 1 teaspoon of garlic powder to a can of tomato sauce. Simmer for about 5 minutes to thicken. Voila! Homemade pizza sauce.