Pepperoni Piggies!

You all know what time it is? It's time to CALL. THOSE. HOGS!!!!!!!!

I could not be more excited that Razorback football is 3 days away! And high school football at our house starts in 2 days (Go Badgers!). I mentioned my Interest in Pinterest in a previous post and wanted to share one of the first recipes I made from this amazing website, Pizza Piggies. 

picture from www.cafechocolada.blogspot.com

It was originally posted on a blog called Cafe Chocolada, but the blog is recently open to invited readers only. Hmpphh! Good thing I was able to check out this recipe before viewing access was denied!

First, choose your dough. I used Bisquick Heart Healthy to make my dough because that's what I always use to make pizza dough; HOWEVER, I would not recommend this. 1) it was too bread-y  2) I couldn't roll it out thin enough so it was a little too thick for my taste. So...I would suggest using a refrigerated pizza dough or crescent rolls. Maybe even a pie crust, depending on what you're filling it with.

ROLL the dough out very thin and choose your "cutter". I used a wine goblet. You might want to use a different object to create a larger circle (plastic cup) if you want to place more "filling" in between your layers. Totally up to you!

Cut out a bunch of circles for the faces of the piggies (2 circles per piggie). 

Find a smaller "cutter" and cut out smaller circles to use for the piggies' snouts and also to use for the ears. (1 circle for each snout, 1 circle will make 4 ears) I used a small shooter shot glass for these smaller circles.

You could also use a bottle cap. Anything about this size, really.

Once you have all of your big circles cut out, make sure you have an even number so that you have one circle for the bottom and one circle for the top of each piggie (since you will be sandwiching your filling).

Spread each circle with ~1Tbsp pizza sauce (use your judgement). You don't want too much because then you won't be able to press the two circles together without the sauce spilling out.

Top the sauce on each circle with 1-2 pepperonis. 

Sprinkle the cheese on top of the pepperonis (again, don't overdo it). Too much will spew out once you bake them in the oven!

Top each circle with another large circle.

Press the edges so that they stick together (sort of like making a pie). This can get messy if you put too much filling in them. 

For the snouts, use your smaller circles (1 for each piggie). Take a fork/toothpick and make 2 slits in the middle of each circle for the nostrils. You can leave it at that, or use rosemary sprigs (I used caraway seeds) to make the nostrils more bold. Use egg wash to help the nose/ears stick to the piggies' faces.

For the ears, cut the smaller circles (same size as the circles used for the snouts) into quarters and place on the piggies. I did mine up-side-down, but oh well!

 Brush the faces with egg white. Top with peppercorns for eyes. (Totally edible and tasted great!)

Bake @ 350 degrees for ....ummm, this is horrible, but I can't remember the baking time. And since I don't have access to view this blog anymore, just watch them closely. Should take around 8-15 min.

As you can see, some of the cheese & sauce will spill out as they rise. This is okay. Just wipe it up!

 Dig In! I had to dip mine in more pizza sauce because I LOVE it! It also made mine taste a little better since they were so bread-y from the dough I chose to use.

Aren't they so cute! I will say it takes a little time to prepare them, but the options for fillings/seasonings are endless! These will be making it to the tailgate for sure! Feel free to comment if you have any questions or if you end up trying them. I'd love to hear how they turn out for you!!