Pizza Pockets

I’m beginning to think that you can put just about anything inside a fried wonton and it will be beyond good.  Back in January (gosh that seems like a lifetime ago), there was this little discovery of Crispy Crab Rangoons.  Tonight?  Pizza Pockets, using the fried wonton concept again.  So good.

Tonight Nick had a friend come over for dinner and studying.  I relied on a tried-and-true for the main course, and once I saw these Pizza Pockets in my stack of recipe clippings, I thought they would be something fun for the kids to munch on pre-dinner.  The recipe comes from the December/January 2007 issue of Family Fun magazine, and in their picture, they arranged the pockets on a plate in the shape of a wreath and decorated it with little touches of parsley, cherry tomatoes (to look like ball ornaments) and pieces of yellow pepper cut into the shape of stars.  Very cute idea, but, of course, being the last day of September we went with the very generic presentation of … wontons stacked up on a plate.

The kids barely touched them because they were too busy running around the house like lunatics playing,  but no matter.  I froze some of the batch, served some with dinner, sent some home with Nick’s friend at the end of the night, and I still have a nice stash in the fridge.  A crispy exterior leads the way into a filling that tastes just like a piece of pizza.  This recipe is a great way to learn a method of making a new dish, but forgiving enough that you can easily swap out the ingredients to better satisfy your taste buds or to use up what you have on hand in the house.

Don’t want to fry them?  Spirtz them with a little cooking spray to keep the tops from browning too quickly, and just bake them.  A nice little quick kid-friendly snack to have in your repertoire.  Well, at least the kids serve as a good excuse to make these, but if you don’t have kids and make them anyway, I won’t tell.

One year ago … omg, I totally forgot about this.  Made me tear up just to look at it again.  I can’t believe it’s been a year already!

Pizza Pocket Wreath
Recipe courtesy of Family Fun magazine

30 square wonton wrappers
Pepperoni slices
1/3 cup of pizza sauce, plus extra for dipping
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 large green pepper, cut into thin strips
Small bawl of water
Vegetable oil

1. Lay the wontons wrapper on a dry work surface.
2. In the center of each wrapper, place a slice of pepperoni, 1/2 teaspoon of pizza sauce, ½ tablespoon of cheese, and 1 pepper strip.
3. Dip your finger in water and moisten all 4 edges of the wonton, then fold it in half, pressing along the edges to seal it.
4. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat and cook the pockets until brown, about 2 minutes on each side, adding more oil as needed.
5. Remove the wontons from the pan and place them on paper towel to absorb excess oil.
6. Arrange them in a wreath shape, as shown here, and serve with extra sauce for dipping.

Print it!