Spinach & Mushroom with Ricotta Cheese Mini Pies Recipe

Some of you have expressed interest in the recipe for these mini pies that I recently posted on my Instagram. I usually pin my favorite recipes on my Pinterest account, but this is one of those recipes that I wrote down one day and just totally winged it. But, it's really super easy and it takes about 30-40 minutes to make.

On a working week night, I normally make dinner just for myself. I also get out of work pretty late sometimes, so I prefer to make things that are quick yet tasty, and something that I can take to work for lunch the next day.

As I've previously mentioned before, I totally just winged this recipe. I pretty much just eyed everything to my liking (and hope for the best). But that's what I like about cooking, it's a lot more forgiving than baking. You can practically throw anything in the pan and you can still make it taste good.

So as far as ingredients and measurements go written below, it's a rough estimation of what I used to make four mini pies. Feel free to adjust how much of what you want in the pie. I just did a 1:1 ratio for the spinach, mushroom, and ricotta cheese.

Also, since I didn't really take pictures of the whole procedure, I tried to use my Photoshop skillz to illustrate how to cut the puff pastry dough (and for your entertainment).

Can you tell I like to shop at Trader Joe's?

Ingredients (yields four mini pies):
- 1 puff pastry sheet (make sure to follow defrosting instructions in the box)
- 1 tbsp olive oil (not pictured)
- 1/4 cup chopped onions (not pictured)
- 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
- 1/2 cup chopped spinach
- 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- a muffin tin pan

*Make sure that your puff pastry and spinach have been defrosted already. Also, drain the water on your spinach. I used a wire strainer and pushed it down with a spoon to get all the water out.

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 400°F.
2. Using kitchen scissors, cut your pastry sheets in half. One half will be used as the cup of the pies and the other half will be used to cover them.
3. Cut the first half of the puff pastry sheets into four strips (see illustration).

4. Then cut the puff pastry strips into half again.
5. You'll layer both pieces on top of each other and shape it in the muffin pan so it forms a cup.
6. Set your muffin pan aside.
7. Cut the other half of the pastry puff the same way for the top part of the muffin. Set it aside, but make sure to keep them laid out on the paper of the pastry dough and they're not laying on top of each other (so they won't stick together).

8. In a pan, heat up your olive oil over medium heat and then saute your chopped onions for about a 1-2 minutes.
9. Then add your spinach and mushroom in the pan and saute for a few minutes and then turn off the heat.
10. In a bowl, mix together your cooked onions, spinach, and mushroom with the ricotta cheese and egg.
11. Scoop the mixture into your puff pastry cups.
12. Cover each cup with the remaining puff pastry dough.
13. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
14. Pop them right out of the muffin tin pan and ENJOY!

Ok, that might be a pretty lengthy step-by-step guide, but I promise you it's easy! This was my first time working with a puff pastry sheet before, but I'm glad that my decision not to butter the muffin pan worked out fine. You don't really need to since they pop right out.

These mini pies will be awesome to take to a picnic, served as finger food, as an appetizer, it's own as a snack, or even for breakfast. They're also awesome if you eat it with salmon! You can also easily make this for your next Thanksgiving potluck if you have no idea what to bring.

Hope you enjoyed this post, and let me know if you have any questions below or if you decided to make them piez! If you post it on Instagram, make sure to tag me and use the hashtag #beautybitten so I can see your post.