Stuffed Pistolettes

This is a rambling post about how I changed one of my favorite old recipes to make it happier. And it tastes good!

First, pistolettes. If you can't find a bread item called "pistolettes" where you are, just use some other big, fat yeast rolls with a sturdy crust. Anything hardy enough to hollow out and stuff will work just fine. (Ignore that that link describes them as "fried" - they are not bought fried. They are often fried as a method of cooking them, but we're not doing that.)

I prefer whole wheat pistolettes when I can find them, but the Winn Dixie by my house had a bag of 8 white pistolettes on sale for $0.99 the other day. EXCITING. I didn't want to spend any more than that on dinner, so I decided to substitute about half the old recipe with things I already had at home. Let's see how that went...

In the original recipe, you hollow out the rolls, stuff them with a meat/broccoli/cheese mixture, and bake them. We're still doing that, but we're changing the stuffing mixture. We're making it healthier and tastier.*

The original mixture for the stuffing goes like:

Ground beef
Broccoli
Velveeta
Cream of mushroom soup
Cooked white rice

Okay. The first thing we're doing is scrapping the rice. We've already got bread, which is plenty of starch. I image the rice was meant to make this meal stretch farther to feed more people cheaply? We're just a little family, though. And we're watching our carbs.

Next, cream of mushroom soup? I'm fresh out. But I do have a can of mushroom pieces and some milk. And some shredded sharp cheddar cheese instead of Velveeta...because. Just because. You know why.

I ALWAYS keep ground beef and broccoli florets in my freezer. Always have. Always will.

So here's what! Brown the ground beef. I like to flavor mine up with salt, pepper, Tony's, garlic and onion. It never hurts. Drain it.

You steamed some broccoli while you were doing that? Good. Chop it up small, small and throw it in with the beef. Also add in some (drained) canned mushrooms. Stir, stir. Drain it one more time if your veggies cook out a lot.

At this point, I dumped the meat and veggies into a big bowl and put the pan back on the heat. I threw in a little bit of butter (about 1.5 tbs) and melted it, then added the same amount in flour (about 1.5 tbs) to make a quick roux base for the cheese sauce. Stir the roux around until it's pasty, then slowly add in some milk. I don't know, like...1/2 cup? 3/4 cup? I was not measuring at this point. I was ROLLING WITH IT.

Stir and cook it like that until it starts to steam and thicken, then add in some cheese. Again - and you know you love me - I have no idea how much cheese. Maybe 1 cup. Maybe more. Just stir and taste, stir and taste. Season it, if you like! Salt and pepper. I'm sooo tired aaaalll of the time.

Once you don't hate your cheese sauce, dump in the meat and stir everything around. It needs to not be too soupy. It needs to be thick and cheesy and kind of...gluey. Add more cheese until it does that.

NOW you can hollow out your rolls, stuff them to bejesus, and brush the tops of the rolls with a little melted butter. Pop them in the oven (preheated to 400) for about 15-20 minutes. They will be crusty and buttery on the outside, and warm and gooey on the inside. They will fill you up and keep you that way.

THE END


* Note: this is not a healthy recipe, exactly, but I count removing the Velveeta as making it more healthy, so...whatever. DON'T YOU JUDGE ME.