Puff Pastry Pizza Pockets and The Menu

Hello and welcome to Pizza and a Movie! Today I have a fun, dare I say nostalgic, pizza recipe. You may have understood immediately from the post title – Puff Pastry Pizza Pockets. Surely you remember the ubiquity of Hot Pockets in the 1990s. The mouth scalding mozzarella cheese and sauce (no matter how long I let that Hot Pocket cool off, it always burned my mouth), wrapped in a doughy pocket, were a favorite lunch or after school snack. Today, we’re updating them a little with puff pastry dough. The insides will still scald your mouth, so let them cool off. A lot. Here we go!

Defrost the puff pastry sheets for about an hour, until the pastry is super cold, but not frozen. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. I am using one sheet of pastry for four pockets. This is perfect for two people, but if you need more pockets, just double the recipe.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry dough to close up the cracked folds and to get a little more length and width out of the dough. We want to get four strips that are about 3.5-inches on the short side.

Building the Puff Pastry Pizza Pockets

I am using crushed tomatoes straight from the can for the sauce. I like the bright, acidic flavor of the unadorned tomatoes. Use your favorite canned sauce, or go my way and use the crushed tomatoes. Use a spoon to spread a spoon full of sauce on one half of the puff pastry strip. be sure to leave a 1/2-inch border for sealing the pastry pocket. Then sprinkle a little grated mozzarella.

I am making classic Pepperoni Puff Pastry Pizza Pockets, you can make your favorite pizza flavors, just be sure you don’t over fill the pocket. We need them to seal. Lay the pepperoni slices on the cheese, then top with more cheese.

Get a little dish of water and use your finger to moisten the 1/2-inch border (toppings side) of the dough. Then fold the other side of the dough over the toppings. Press, and use the tines of a fork to seal. Transfer the pockets to a parchment-lined sheet tray.

Brush the tops with egg wash. Then use the fork or a knife to poke or slice a few ventilation holes in the top of the dough. Now bake the Puff Pastry Pizza Pockets for about 15-20 minutes, just until the pastry is puffed and golden.

Seriously, let these cool off for longer than you think you need to before biting into one. Transfer the Puff Pastry Pizza Pockets to a serving plate and let’s get to the movie!

Movie Night: The Menu

We have our Puff Pastry Pizza Pockets ready, and hopefully cooled off enough to eat. I feel like Pizza Pockets are especially appropriate to enjoy while watching this satire of fine dining. Described as a horror-comedy, The Menu is definitely more satire than horror, so don’t be dissuaded by the description. I quite enjoyed this movie. While it could have been darker and more heavy-handed on the critique of both tone deaf wealthy people and vainglorious chefs, I think the dash of humor keeps both camps from taking themselves too seriously. I found Ralph Fiennes’ performance as Chef Julian Slowik especially funny. His deadpan line delivery and timing was spot on.

I quite like Anya Taylor-Joy and she is great in this movie as Margot – whose story gets more interesting as the film progresses. If you have any attachment to, or interest in portrayals of the food service industry, you might find this movie especially entertaining. A few fun facts: the Michelin-starred, San Francisco Chef Dominque Crenn was a consultant for creating the dishes featured in The Menu. David Gelb, the creator of the popular Netflix Series Chef’s Table, is the Second Unit Director (presumably for the food-specific shooting). After a Covid flare-up in the UK scrapped the plans to shoot the film in Scotland, they relocated the shoot to Tybee Island, Georgia – my home away from home!

The Menu is available to watch with a subscription to HBO Max; premium subscriptions to Amazon Prime Video and Hulu, and available to rent or buy on Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, Redbox and Vudu.

Thank you so much for joining me today for Pizza and a Movie! This was a fun one, I hope you enjoyed it. If you’re looking for more Pizza recipes and movie recommendations, be sure to catch up with the Pizza and a Movie Tab. Have a great weekend, take care and be well. xo Kelly

Key Equipment

Print Recipe

Puff Pastry Pizza Pockets

(13 votes, average: 3.23 out of 5)

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Dinner, Main Course – American

By Kelly Djalali – Serves: Makes 4 Pizza Pockets

Prep Time: 10 Minutes – Cooking Time: 15-20 Minutes – Total Time: ~30 Minutes

Mozzarella cheese, crushed tomatoes and pepperoni enveloped in golden, crisp, flaky and buttery puff pastry. It's Puff Pastry Pizza Pockets!

Ingredients

• 1 Sheet Prepared Puff Pastry Dough, thawed but still very cold
• 4 tbsp. Crushed Tomatoes, divided
• 1/2 cup Grated Mozzarella Cheese, divided
• Pepperoni
• 1 Egg, beaten with a splash of water

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry dough to close up the cracked folds and to get a little more length and width out of the dough. We want to get four strips that are about 3.5-inches on the short side.

3

Use a spoon to spread a spoon full of sauce on one half of the puff pastry strip. be sure to leave a 1/2-inch border for sealing the pastry pocket. Then sprinkle a little grated mozzarella.

4

Lay the pepperoni slices on the cheese, then top with more cheese.

5

Get a little dish of water and use your finger to moisten the 1/2-inch border (toppings side) of the dough. Then fold the other side of the dough over the toppings. Press, and use the tines of a fork to seal. Transfer the pockets to a parchment-lined sheet tray.

6

Brush the tops with egg wash. Then use the fork or a knife to poke or slice a few ventilation holes in the top of the dough. Now bake the Puff Pastry Pizza Pockets for about 15-20 minutes, just until the pastry is puffed and golden.

7

Seriously, let these cool off for longer than you think you need to before biting into one. Transfer the Puff Pastry Pizza Pockets to a serving plate.

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