Skillet Pizza Bombs

I'm excited to share a new family favorite!  These pizza bombs are easy to assemble (my kiddos like to get in on the action for this step), come together quickly, and there are rarely leftovers. We don't eat like this often- we try to provide a lean protein, vegetable, and usually a grain (preferably a whole grain) at our evening meal, but this is a definitely a treat when it makes it's way into the rotation. In fact, I just made it last week, at my daughter's request, for her birthday dinner. It would be a perfect appetizer recipe too. For instance, I'd bet  that these would be a hit at your Super Bowl party!

It's a little embarrassing to say how I came up with this recipe early in December. I was cleaning out our freezer.  Which, in my defense, I do regularly. Like, honestly. I pull out expired items, defrost, clean, and re-organize. I swear, I do this! During my search for expired items, I came across an open bag of Rhodes dinner rolls. The package clearly read that they were "BEST BY" 10/18/13. 2013! Really!!!?!? I must've been shoving them back into my freezer for years....

***SIDEBAR ALERT*** (I promise it relates to this post.)

Here's a little piece of trivia about me: I'm a risk-taker. I don't mind "living on the edge", so to speak. This doesn't mean that I want to sky dive or bungee jump (at least not anymore) and I certainly have no desire to go on "Fear Factor". Becoming the mother of 3 has given me a greater sense of self-preservation than I possessed in my earlier years. Plus, after 3 pregnancies and a little age on me, my equilibrium and ability to "plunge" and "spin" without a care or consequence has been strangely compromised. Not sure what's up with that. Totally unfair side effect.  That being said, there's not much that actually scares me. In other words, I'm no "chicken". It certainly takes more than a "BEST BY" date to discourage me. I mean, the rolls were frozen, after all. "BEST BY" is a recommendation. I reasoned that at the very worst, the quality would have diminished to inedible, in which case, we'd eat leftovers. Not only am a somewhat fearless, I'm also pretty darn frugal. I hated to throw these out. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And when life gave me 3 year old dinner rolls, I decided that we needed pizza bombs. (If you raised your eyebrows at that last sentence, it's okay. I'm laughing at myself.)

I began the Pizza Bomb preparations by spraying a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray, then laying out the hard balls of dough to thaw.

While the rolls thawed, I gathered the rest of my ingredients: butter, marinara (or pizza sauce), mozzarella sticks, pepperoni, Parmesan, garlic salt, and Italian seasoning. You can choose other fillings, but I was keeping it simple.

Then I placed half a stick of butter into my cast iron skillet to melt on the stove top. You can also add minced garlic (just be careful not to burn it) or a sprinkle of garlic salt. You really just want the bottom of the skillet to be coated with butter so that the "bombs" don't stick. Pour off the excess melted butter into a dish so that you can use it to brush the tops of the rolls once assembled.

Once the rolls are no longer frozen, rolls them into a 4-5 inch diameter circle.

Spread about a teaspoon of sauce in the center of the roll, taking care not to get the sauce too close to the edges. If you get the sauce on the edges of the "tiny pizza" it will be challenging to seal when you attempt to make it into a "bomb". This is evidenced in the video clip.  Oops. (Keep scrolling to click the link to that clip.) I also placed a piece of pepperoni and a chunk of cheese equal to 1/3 of a mozzarella stick in the center of each roll.

Bring up the sides of the roll to meet in the middle and pinch to seal.

Then fold up the opposite sides and pinch to seal any openings.


Check out the clip below for a demo.

Disclaimer: This is my first attempt in years at a demonstration clip for this blog. My 8 year old encouraged me to film the steps and served as camera woman. I hope to make more for upcoming posts, WITH IMPROVEMENTS!  For example, next time we'll try it in wide-angle....

Here I am assembling one of these Pizza Bombs.

Arrange the pizza bombs in the skillet with a little space between each to allow them to rise. I fit 15 into my skillet. Behind the scenes note:  I made extras and baked them in a buttered 8-inch round pan, which will also work if you don't have access to a skillet.

Cover the skillet with plastic wrap at set aside to let the rolls rise. I recommend spraying a little cooking spray on the side of the plastic that will be in contact with the rolls to prevent sticking. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour. Then brush with the remaining melted butter, sprinkle liberally with garlic salt, Parmesan, and Italian seasoning.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

I apologize that I don't have any photos of these final steps. I could swear that I did, but they are nowhere to be found on my camera roll. Possibly my SnapChat filter borrowing, selfie-taking kiddos accidentally deleted them? Hmmm.

They really do turn out perfectly. Even with expired dough! Not that I'm condoning or promoting the use of expired products. Safety first, friends! When in doubt, throw it out! When I made them again, with dough straight from the grocery, the result was the same. Perfectly fluffy, gooey, and most importantly, delicious!

They should look like this when they come out of the oven.

Now, tear into those puppies and enjoy! My family likes to dip them in pizza sauce.

Krista's Kitchen Pepperoni Pizza Bombs

Prep time: 15 minutes + 1 hour for raising dough + approximately 20 minutes for baking
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

• Desired amount of frozen dinner roll dough, depending on the size of your skillet (I used Rhodes brand)
• 1/4 cup butter
• pizza sauce
• pepperoni
• mozzarella cheese sticks, cut into 3rds
• minced garlic or garlic salt
• grated Parmesan
• Italian seasoning

Instructions

Grease a baking sheet or parchment paper. Place frozen rolls on prepared surface to allow thawing. Just thaw until no longer frozen and slightly soft to the touch. (They should still feel cool to touch.)  

Melt 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) of butter in the bottom of a cast iron skillet. Add garlic. Leaving a coating on the bottom of the skillet, pour off excess butter into a dish, reserve for later.

Once thawed, flatten dinner roll dough to a 4-5 inch diameter. Top with 1 teaspoon of pizza sauce, pepperoni, and piece of mozzarella. Bring up sides and pinch to seal, creating a round shape or "bomb". Place in prepared skillet, leaving a little space between each roll for expansion.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Once the skillet is filled with pizza bombs, cover and let rise until doubled, approximately 1 hour.

Gently brush with remaining butter, sprinkle with additional garlic salt, seasoning, and Parmesan. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and the rolls sound "hollow" when you tap on them.

Let cool 5 minutes or more. Serve with additional pizza sauce.

Notes:

* If you don't have an iron skillet, these can be made in a round cake pan, springform, or even mass-produced on a baking sheet. Simply treat with melted butter and garlic first.

* You can be creative with the fillings. Think mini-Stromboli! Italian sausage, mushroom, onion, olives...you just don't want to over-stuff because they need to seal. Also, keep in mind that veggies create moisture as they bake and you don't want the rolls to get soggy. I might recommend sautéing veggies before using as a filling.


Enjoy, friends!

Smoked Chicken Pot Stickers

My whole family loves the steamed dumplings that we get at our local Chinese take-out joint. My four year old begs for them. Three years ago I came across a recipe for these Smoked Chicken Pot Stickers in the Weight Watchers magazine. Not only are they delicious,but you can eat 2 whole dumplings for only 75 calories and 2 grams of fat. I decided it had been too long since I last made these dumplings, so they became my Sunday evening project. I say project because these little dumplings take some time. Thankfully, not as much as my hand made tortellini, but you're still probably looking at an hour in the kitchen with these. Definitely worth it. Definitely yummy. But also a little time consuming. Just a heads up. : )

I begin by making the dipping sauce. You'll need soy sauce, dark sesame oil, some scallions, rice vinegar, and sugar. Combine the sauce ingredients and set it aside until you're ready to dip something into it.





Now lets prepare that pot sticker filling. Begin by chopping 1/3 cup of chives.


To prepare the cabbage, finely chop 1-1/2 cups of Napa or Savoy cabbage and place it in a sieve. Boil 2 cups of water and pour the boiling water over the cabbage. Press the excess water out using a wooden spoon or a spatula.


Here are the filling ingedients ready to go into the food processor. That's two chopped green onions, chives, 1/4 lb. of smoked chicken, and corn starch.


Put it all into the food processor with salt and pepper and an additional tablespoon of soy sauce.


Pulse until finely chopped.


Now you're ready for the wonton skins. The recipe calls for 24 round wrappers. I could only find square. I wonder if they would have been prettier if I used the round. The recipe calls for 24 wrappers, but I think I used around 36.


I covered my work surface with waxed paper. Work with 6 wrappers at a time, keeping the wrappers that you're not working with covered in damp paper towel to prevent them from drying out. Put 1 teaspoon of the filling in the center of each wrapper.


To shape the wonton, I dipped a finger in water and wet the edges of the wonton. Fold in half and press to seal. Then, I pleated the edges. I'm not skilled in wonton shaping. I'm not even sure that this is exactly correct. I tried to make them look as much like the picture provided on the recipe. It was a little tricky and took some time. As you can see, my wontons are like snowflakes, each one is different from the next and unique.



Now, spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium high heat. Add 12 or so dumplings and cook until they're golden brown on the bottom.


Then flip and cook for another minute or two.


Add 1/2 cup of water to the pan and cover. Reduce heat and steam for 4 minutes, until heated through. Remove from the pan and keep warm. Repeat the cooking steps with the rest of the dumplings.


Here's my first batch of perfectly steamed dumplings all cozy in the skillet.


Serve em' up with the dipping sauce.


Smoked Chicken Pot Stickers

Dipping Sauce:
1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
4 teaspoons water

Combine ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Filling:
1-1/2 cups finely chopped Savoy or Napa cabbage
1/4 lb. smoked chicken breast, chopped
1/3 cup thinly sliced chives
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 sliced green onions
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Bring two cups water to a boil in a small saucepan. Place the cabbage in a sieve and pour the boiling water over it. With a wooden spoon or spatula, press excess liquid from the cabbage. Transfer to a food processor; add the chicken, chives, cornstarch, salt, pepper, soy sauce, and green onions. Pulse until finely chopped.

To make the dumplings:

24 to 36 3-to 3-1/2 inch wonton skins

Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Place 6 wonton skins on a work surface. Keep the remaining skins covered with a damp towel so they don't dry out. Place 1 teaspoon firmly packed filling in the center of each skin. Brush the edges of the skins with water. Fold in half and press the edges together to seal. Pleat the edges together, placing the dumplings on the baking sheet, and cover with plastic wrap.

To cook:

Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set over medium high heat. Add 12 dumplings and cook until golden brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook a minute or two longer. Add 1/2 cup water to the pan and cover. Reduce heat and simmer until the dumpling are cooked through, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a platter and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining dumplings. Serve with the dipping sauce.

Nutritional Information

Serving size: 2 dumplings with 1 tablespoon of dipping sauce 75 Calories, 2 g Fat, 0 g Sat Fat, 0 g Trans Fat, 13 mg Cholesterol, 622 mg sodium, 12 g Carbs, 1 g fiber, 4 g Protein, 12 mg calcium
Points per Serving: 1! Just 1!

Super Bowl Seven Layer Dip

This really is my favorite 7 layer dip. It's always a hit at cook outs and parties. Last year I took it to a cook out and 6 of us obliterated it in about 10 minutes. Bugers, what?! We've got 7 layer dip.

Easily assembled in a 13 X 9, it travels well. Here are the ingredients neatly arranged in my Pyrex: 2 cans of bean dip, 2-3 avacados, mayo, sour cream, taco seasoning, tomatoes, green onions, olives, and oops...I forgot the cheese. Shredded cheddar and/or Jack.


So let's begin. Spread the two cans of bean dip in the bottom of the dish.


Now for the avacados. The recipe calls for 3 medium, but the special at my local grocery was 2 large for $5, so I made them work. You want ripe avacados. They should be a deep greenish brown and give a little when you gently press against the skin. Slice them in half.


Now remove the seed. Here's a trick. I take a little whack at the seed with my chef's knife so that it sticks in the seed. Then I give it a little wiggle and pull the seed right out.



Now scrape the "meat" away. I used this Pampered Chef avacado peeler that my mom sent to me. Just run the blade along the skin and the avacado easily pops out. I never received a lesson on how to use this handy little tool. A few minutes ago a looked it up on the Pampered Chef website and apparently you can use it to slice the avacado, remove the seed, and then chop the avacado up for salsa or whatever your recipe calls for. It's still pretty fun to hack into the seed with my chef's knife, though.



Now, I mash up the avacado using my pastry cutter. Love this kitchen tool. It works just as well on avacados and bananas as it does on biscuits and streudel.


Spread the avacado over the bean dip layer.


Now mix the mayo, sour cream, taco seasoning packet, and lemon juice.


Spread it over the avacado layer. The citric acid in this layer keeps the avacado from turning all brown and ugly.


Now slice a bunch of green onions and sprinkle them on the sour cream/mayo layer.


And chop a couple of tomatoes and place them evenly over the dip.


Next, drain a can of black olives and sprinkle them over the tomatoes.


And finally, top the whole thing with cheese.


Mmmmm. Layers. Now you just need tortilla chips.


7 Layer Dip

1st layer: 2 cans of bean dip (found in the chip aisle at the grocery)
2nd layer: 3 medium avacados
3rd layer: 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup mayo, 1 pkg. taco seasoning, 2 T lemon juice
4th layer: 1 bunch green onions, sliced
5th layer: 3 tomatoes, diced
6th layer: slice black olives
7th layer: top with shredded cheddar and/ or Monterey Jack