Baked Panzerottis

This recipe is from the Food Network show Eat, Shrink, and Be Merry. The idea of the show is that they take unhealthy foods and make them healthy. Rob and I both often have pizza cravings, and I was hoping this recipe would satisfy those cravings and save us some money!

Ingredients

Dough:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tbsp of ground flaxseed (I used whole flaxseed)

1 envelope of quick-rise yeast

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 warm water

2 tsp olive oil

2 tsp honey

1 egg, lightly beaten (to coat the dough before baking)

Sauce:

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 cup minced onion

2 tsp minced garlic

2 cups plain, low-sodium tomato sauce

1 small can of tomato paste

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp honey

salt and pepper to taste

**You could just buy a jar of pizza sauce instead of making your own if you'd like. I won't judge.**

Filling:

The recipe uses ground turkey and turkey sausage. We wanted to make our panzerotti vegetarian, so we use the following:

1 can of diced pineapple, drained and squeezed (too much pineapple juice will make a soggy panzerotti)

1/2 green pepper, shopped

5-6 white button mushrooms, sliced

1 cup of shredded cheese (we bought a pre-shredded Italian blend)

Directions

Dough:

1. Mix dry ingredients well in a large mixing bowl.
2. In measuring cup, mix water, honey, and olive oil.
3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon.
4. Tip onto a flour surface and knead for 2 minutes.
5. Lightly grease a bowl with olive oil. Place dough in bowl and cover. Let rise for 15-20 minutes, until double in size.

Sauce:

1. Saute onions and garlic in a pot with olive oil until onions are soft.
2. Add in remaining ingredients and stir well.
3. Let simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes.

Okay, so now for the assembly!

1. On a piece of parchment paper or a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a large rectangle, about the size of the cookie sheet that you will bake the panzerotti on.
2. Transfer dough to a floured cookie sheet.
3. Spread 1/3 of the sauce down the centre portion of the dough, leaving 3 to 4 inches on each side.
4. Spread some cheese on the sauced area.
5. Spread fillings and top with remaining cheese.
6. Down each side of the dough, cut 8 strips that you can "braid" over the sauce and fillings.
7. Take a strip from one side and fold it over the fillings. Repeat on the other side. Alternate sides until you've braided the dough. It should look like a giant strudel.
8. Be sure to seal the ends of the panzerotti so the sauce doesn't leak out.
9. Brush the dough with the lightly beaten egg.
10. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.
11. Serve with remaining tomato sauce for dipping.

This was a great recipe... a little time consuming, but still delicious. Next time I would buy sauce instead of making my own, in order to cut down on the prep.