Homemade Hot Pockets

These little things are fantastic reheated for a quick lunch or dinner, and they freeze nicely. Also a great way to use up whatever happens to be lurking in the deli and veggie drawers in your fridge.

The dough:
1 Tbsp yeast
1 Tbsp raw can sugar or honey (my original recipe calls for sugar. I used honey last night and it worked out just fine.)
1 cup very hot water
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 c. fine-ground whole wheat flour, plus more if needed

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar or honey. It will get foamy - this is good - it means the yeast is activated.

In a large bowl (or your mixer bowl, if you have one) add the two cups of flour and the oil. Add the yeast mixture once it is foamy and mix until you have a nice doughy consistency. Add more flour at this point if it's needed. Then knead the dough for about 5 minutes.

Let the dough rest while you prepare your filling ingredients. If you make your own pizza sauce*, this is a great time to use it. Add some cheese if you're eating dairy, meats of your choice, lots of chopped veggies, maybe some chopped bell pepper from the freezer if you saved it from last year's garden. Set all your topping ingredients out on the counter around a wooden bread board, and also set out a small bowl of water.

Divide your dough into four equal portions. Flour your bread board and roll out the dough. It should be thin - less than 1/4", and ideally sort of a rectangular shape. Pile in the fillings - not TOO full, or the hot pockets will explode when you bake them. To wrap it up, think of it as a burrito. Fold in the two short edges first, all the way over the filling. Then fold over one of the long edges. Then dip your finger in the water, run it along the other edge, and roll the whole thing over onto the water edge. This will make it seal up a little better. Now stab your hot pocket with a fork a few times to let the air escape and avoid explosion.

Do that with the other three remaining dough balls, then put them all on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes or so until lightly browned on top. Let these cool before you feed them to your starving family!

Total time: about 1 1/2 hours, including baking time.
This recipe doubles and triples easily. Try wrapping them separately in plastic wrap and freezing. If you thaw them first, they can be re-baked in the oven for about 10 minutes at lunch time. (You could microwave them too. We just try to avoid the microwave, you know, 'cuz it's bad.)


*This recipe is from the Colorado Farmer's Market Cookbook, one of my favorites.

Homemade pizza sauce
1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
10 cups peeled and chopped Roma tomatoes
1/4 cup sugar (I do about 2/3 of a 1/4 cup full... if that makes any sense.)
1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (I skip this. I never have fresh parsley.)
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp fennel seed (I've skipped this too without trouble.)

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they are soft. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat.

Puree the tomatoes in a blender or food processor. Add to the onion mixture with the rest of the ingredients. Return mixture to the stove and simmer over medium heat until sauce reaches the desired thickness. It takes mine about 2 hours.