Favorite recipe

I’m a vegetarian living in a household of omnivores. So, I spend a lot of time trying to feed my husband and sons less meat. I’ve gone on a subtle crusade of switching them over. Not because I don’t want them to eat meat, though I think it would be very good for them, but because at heart I am really lazy. Making two different meals or variations of one is really bugging me. I failed to mention I’m also cheap and a vegetarian diet is about as cheap as you can get. When chicken is over two dollars a pound for the tortured ones and over three dollars a pound for the free range treated nicely kind, a dollar for tofu looks pretty good.

Enough said on that issue. Here is a recipe that goes over really well in my house, mostly, because it tastes like pizza. It is a depression era recipe that I got from my late mother-in-law. I’m sure it had been passed down to her. These taste great, have enough protein, make great lunches the next day, and best of all no meat. Take it from me, a lazy person, the initial investment in time is well worth it. You can also play with this recipe. Think veggie pizza!

Stuffed Buns

Buns:
These can be hard rolls, store bought or home made pizza crust, bread dough (I make my own with garlic, rosemary, oregano, and basil in the food processor), puff pastry, etc. I think that crescent dinner roll dough would make nice bite size buns. I haven’t tried it yet but I think I will soon (great party food). Anyway, you’ll need enough of whatever you choose for one dozen.

Filling:
3 eggs, hard boiled
1 to 1 ½ cup cheddar cheese, shredded
¼ cup onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, chopped(I usually use 2 but I love garlic)
¼ to ½ cup tomato sauce, I like pasta sauce in a jar though anything will do.
¼ cup olives, chopped fine

Optional add ins: 1 tablespoon or so: cooked spinach, broccoli, bell peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, etc.

Sauté onion and garlic (and any fresh veggie add ins) in a little olive oil just to soften. Mix all the filling ingredients together to make a thick paste. You can adjust any of the ingredients to your own taste. Here comes the tricky part.

If you went with the hard rolls you have to cut the tops off the very top, retain this part. Scope out the insides. I keep this part to make stuffing, croutons, etc. later on. Fill the insides with the filling mixture, replace the tops. Wrap in waxed paper and place on a cookie sheet. Bake in 275 degree oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

If you went with any of the dough combinations: divide it up into about 8 to 12 pieces. Flatten out and place about 1 to 2 tablespoons of the filling mixture into the middle of each piece. Roll up and seal the edges. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

All the ingredients are approximate. Since this was one of those passed down recipes nothing was exact. I think I got the portions right. I just made them last week so I tried to remember how I did it. I kind of toss in a little of this and a little of that when I cook so let me know if I need to adjust something. Just remember have fun and play with it. Cooking can be tedious enough.