Mega Pockets

Bacon Cheddar Mega Pocket

This is comfort food at its finest!  I love making things from my foodie magazines and this post is no exception. This month in Food Network magazine they've got lots of different "Hot Pocket" style dishes.  My brother-in-law and I took it a step beyond by making them REALLY big, and REALLY yummy!

For the first one, we kept the ingredients simple, in Hot Pocket fashion.  We only used chicken, bacon, cheddar and broccoli...LOTS of it!  We wrapped it up in a ready-made pizza dough, folded it like a burrito and baked it in the oven.  The result was a HUGE, bread-loaf looking mound of bacony, cheesy goodness!

The second one is a combination of left-overs.  We had some chicken apple sausage from the risotto I had made the night before, along with some mashed potatoes, green bell pepper and lots of Parmesan cheese.  This one had a fancier flavor, but it was soooo good!

These are a great appetizer when sliced thin, or a hearty entree as a calzone if cut into 3 or 4 servings. The ingredients are up to you!

Cheddar Bacon Mega Pockets

Prep Time: 20 minutes / Cook Time: 20 minutes / Servings: 6

Left: Sausage Parmesan Mega Pocket
Right: Bacon Cheddar Mega Pocket

Ingredients:

• 1 ready-made pizza crust or dough ( I used Pillsbury)
• 2 medium chicken breasts, chopped
• 4 slices thick, center cut bacon, chopped
• 1 cup frozen chopped broccoli florets
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• salt and pepper

Steps:

1. In a large skillet, cook the chopped bacon on medium heat for 7-10 minutes until crisp.  Remove from heat with a slotted spoon and set aside. 
2. Add the chicken to the bacon drippings, season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Continue to cook on medium heat  for 7-10 minutes until browned and cooked through.
3. When chicken is cooked, add chopped broccoli and cooked bacon into the pan.  Reduce heat to low and warm the broccoli for about 3-5 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in cheddar cheese.
4. Roll the pizza dough out onto a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  Add the chicken mixture to the very center of the pizza dough.  Roll the sides of the pizza dough up over the chicken and place the seam side down on the cookie sheet.  Tuck the sides under and spray the loaf again with cooking spray.  Place in the oven at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes before slicing.

Sausage Parmesan Mega Pockets

Sausage Parmesan Mega Pockets

Prep Time: 20 minutes / Cook Time: 20 minutes / Servings: 6

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken apple sausages (I used Hillshire Farms), chopped
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup mashed potatoes, cooked
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

Steps:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat.  Add the sausage, scallions and bell pepper. Season with salt and pepper and cook on medium heat for 5-7 minutes until sausage is browned and veggies are soft. 
2. Reduce heat to low and stir in mashed potatoes.  Heat the mashed potatoes for 3-5 minutes until warm. 
3. Stir in Parmesan cheese and remove from heat.
4. Roll the pizza dough out onto a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  Add the sausage mixture to the very center of the pizza dough.  Roll the sides of the pizza dough up over the sausage and place the seam side down on the cookie sheet.  Tuck the sides under and spray the loaf again with cooking spray.  Place in the oven at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes before slicing.



Mega Pockets