Cheese-filled Pies

Cheese-filled Pies
(Empadinhas de queijo)

This is the cheese-filled version of those marvelous Brazilian finger foods. Try making them for a party. You will need mini-muffin tins or tartlet molds to bake these tiny pies. (I think this recipe yields 50 empadinhas, but I need to check. Next time I make them I'll post the info, promise! It'll also depend on the tins size, of course.) It's better to bake the empadinhas right before you serve them, because they will go down just like a soufflé.

For the crust:
Prepare the dough just as you would for empadinha, but make only half the recipe because you don't need to make tops for the cheese ones.

Preheat the oven to 375° F.

For the filling:
6 cups of grated Muenster or Havarti cheese (or you can mix different cheeses)

3 cups milk

12 eggs

4 1/2 Tbsp of melted butter or tub margarine

Beat eggs well and mix all ingredients.

1. Pinch off cherry-sized pieces of dough and use them to line the tartlet molds. Push the dough in with your thumb. The dough should just reach over the top of the mold.

2. Pour a spoonful of filling in each crust, 3/4 of the way up.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown.