Stuffed Popovers: Two Attempts

One night I decided that I really wanted bread and something dense. I don't know why I decided that would be popovers. I had seen a recipe for stuffed popovers in my copy of The Joy of Cooking, but I decided to add extra stuff. This is Paula Dean's Recipe for popovers, which is pretty much the recipe I followed, except that I cut the recipe in half.

My first attempt included Jimmy Dean sausage, gruyere cheese, and sauerkraut. They turned out pretty good, but I didn't portion out the batter equally between custard cups:

The one on the lower right was under filled, but still good.

Gratuitous close-up

The next attempt involved ricotta cheese, a garden tomato, fresh basil, and lots of black pepper. These definitely "popped" over, but the filling was a bit too wet, and I needed to have given them a few more minutes for the steam to escape to crisp them up:

Puffed, but soggy on the bottom.

Another gratuitous close-up. I added way too much black pepper to this, and I wasn't a fan of the fresh basil. This combo of flavors didn't really work overall.

I really want to perfect this idea, and I may try other fillings. I really like the eggy flavor and they are fun to watch "popover" in the oven. :)