INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 lb ground Italian sausage (sweet or spicy)
- 1 1/2 cups pizza sauce, divided
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1 pkg. (14.1 oz) refrigerated pie crust (2 crusts)
- 6 Tbsp finely shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp water
PREPARATION
Place 1 teaspoon sausage filling on center of each of 18 cutouts. Top with 1 teaspoon cheese.
With fork, beat egg with water. Brush edges of filled footballs with egg wash, then top each with remaining 18 football cutouts. Press edges to seal, then crimp edges with the tines of a fork.
Arrange dough strips on top of each football to resemble laces. Carefully brush footballs with egg wash.
Arrange footballs on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes until golden. Warm the remaining 1 cup pizza sauce and serve it with footballs for dipping.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
In large nonstick skillet, over medium-high heat, cook and stir sausage until browned and cooked through. Remove from heat; drain and discard any excess grease. Stir in ½ cup pizza sauce, garlic powder and red pepper; set aside.
On lightly floured surface, roll one pie crust about 1 inch larger all around. Using a football-shaped cookie cutter (3 ½ x 2 inches) or template, cut football shapes.
Repeat with remaining pie crust, rerolling any scraps to make a total of 36 football cutouts.
From scraps, cut lots of small narrow dough strips. These will be used to resemble laces on top of the footballs.
