Sourdough Saturday – Whole Grain Pocket Pizza

The grandchildren were over for dinner the other night, and since the weather was nice, I knew they would want to go to the park. Since it is usually futile to serve dinner before heading to the park – they don’t eat a thing, no matter what is served – I made dinner portable. Everyone was happy. This homemade version of those horrible, fat and preservative laden frozen things you can buy at the grocery store was healthier, more filling, and had FAR more yummy flavor.

I made one batch for the kids, filled with spinach and cheddar cheese, and another for the adults filled with spinach, chopped broccoli, black olives, feta and goat cheese, but you could use almost anything – pepperoni, bell pepper, artichokes, etc. The sourdough whole grain mixture is the finishing touch, adding lots of tangy flavor.

Recipe:

• 2 cups sourdough starter (learn how to make your own starter here)
• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup semolina flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup Kamut® flour
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 cup water

In a large bowl or the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, combine all ingredients. Knead until slightly shaggy, about 4 minutes in a stand mixer and 8 minutes by hand. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for 2 – 3 hours.

Deflate dough. Break off small pieces of dough and form into circles. Caution: Don’t make the dough too thin or it will develop holes when you fold it over the toppings. If this happens break off another piece of dough and “patch” your pocket pizza.

Place the circles on a parchment lined baking sheet. Spread with pizza sauce and desired  toppings, being careful not to pile too many topping on because in the next step you will……. Fold the dough in half and securely pinch the edges together, using the same technique that you would use to make a two-crust pie. Some of the pockets will be crescent shaped, some may be rectangular, and some will be odd shaped. This all depends upon how good you are at making the original circle (as you can see, I am not very good at this!). Luckily these pizzas taste so good, no one cares what shape they are.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 – 25 minutes or until the dough is golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes before eating.

This recipe made 16 pocket pizzas of varying sizes. For the toddlers, I made very little pockets. The older kids got medium sized pockets, and the adults got large pockets – just like Goldilocks. You could also make 4 – 6 large calzones instead of pocket pizzas.

Have you ever made portable pocket pizzas before? What is your favorite filling?

I will be submitting this recipe to Yeastspotting too. Check out their great bread recipe selection.

Update: July is pizza month over at Sourdough Surprises. Check out all of the yummy sourdough pizza recipes that were submitted. Something for everyone!