OK, you really can’t get any better than this. Fried pizza dough stuffed with cheese, sauce and meat. My kids were in heaven when I served them this last night. A crispy fried dough, with warm gooey cheese inside. A real showstopper! I think my oil was slightly too hot so they cooked quite quickly, but at least I can say the dough was not raw inside. Next time I’ll stuff them a bit more. The trick is ensuring the dough is sealed at the edges, so the stuffing doesn’t open in the cooking oil and make a mess.

Ingredients:

1 recipe sourdough pizza dough

1 can tomato sauce

Mozzarella cheese

Ham/bacon/salami

2 cups cooking oil (such as Canola)

Directions:

Set cooking oil to heat in a heavy bottomed pan.

Tear off an mandarin sized ball of dough and shape into a round flat, about the size of an appetizer plate. Stuff with sauce, cheese and meat. Seal edges carefully, making a half moon shaped pocket.

When oil has heated (you can check by throwing a small ball of dough and seeing if it starts to fry and float), add the panzerotti pockets to the oil. Watch to make sure they don’t burn, adjust heat if necessary.

Flip panzerotti and allow to finish cooking on 2nd side. Place on paper towels to absorb excess oil.