Meat Pockets

This recipe is an original creation. It's similar to a calzone, but not centered around tomato sauce, cheese or italian seasonings. Assembly is fun.

Ingredients:

Pizza dough
About 3-4 cups of leftovers cut into small chunks

General procedure:

Begin with a recipe of pizza dough for one 12" pizza. My recipe (from King Arthur Flour) follows, if you don't have a favorite.

Divide dough into four balls. Roll each out into an approximate 6" circle, about 1/8" thick.

Top each circle with about a cup of chopped up leftovers. Sprinkle on cheese, if desired. Carefully fold the circle in half over the filling, and seal edges (very important to avoid a mess baking!).

Bake as for pizza, at about 425 F. I use a pizza stone and it's done in about 15 minutes.

My dough recipe (this is for two pizzas):

1 pack yeast
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Let yeast stand in water five minutes. Add half the flour. Add the olive oil. Add the rest of the flour. Knead 10 minutes (or 7-8 minutes with the dough hook on a mixer). Let rise in a greased bowl until doubled in size. Punch down and shape into two balls.

You can freeze dough for a pizza, rolled out into an approximate 12-13" circle and well-wrapped in plastic wrap.

Leftover tips:

I like to use chicken or beef, very well torn apart or in small chunks. Vegetables would stand alone well, also. I add vegetables. Leftover broccoli, cauliflower, cooked carrots, and potatoes are all good candidates. In order not to be dry, I make sure the leftover mix is juicy-moist. Generally there is juice enough with the leftovers, but I have used leftover cheese sauce before, with good success. I generally top the leftover filling with a sprinkle (maybe 2 tablespoons) of cheddar or mozzerella cheese.