Chocolate Pizza Pockets

This lady is one of the main reasons I started my own blog. Not only does Meeta have beautiful photo's and delicious recipes, she also hosts the very popular Monthly Mingle. I used to look at the round-ups longing to join in the fun, and am so excited that I can now venture into the world of food blogging events myself. And I couldn't have picked a nicer theme to take the plunge: Bread and Chocolate, hosted by Jamie from Life's a Feast. Wow! The very thought makes my mouth water. And that was even before I'd started having a look around the net for inspiration!

You'd think it an easy choice to make. I love bread. I love chocolate. Combine the two and you have heaven on your plate. Forget the carbs, forget the fat, think about all those anti-oxidants and serotonin, and realise that this is health food. Nay, medicine! You will be downright irresponsible if you don't have bread and chocolate at least once a day! Seriously, I'm all for being healthy and mindful of what you eat, but I do think a big part of that is having whatever your body tells you it needs, have it in moderation, and enjoy eating it. All this guilt about the food we eat cannot possibly be good for our health!

Anyway, back to recipes. My, oh my, what a selection. Chocolate on bread with a sprinkle of sea salt, chocolate bread and butter pudding in any conceivable variation, chocolate chip bread, good old Nutella on toast, and chocolate hot cross buns, (yes, I know it's only February, but why we restrict ourselves to these fabulous buns only at Easter is beyond me). Where to start?

After lots of hmming and aahming, I decided to go back to my current philosophy, which is to love my money. I know it sounds strange, but I'm reckoning that if you love your money, you will only exchange it for something really really worthwhile, which in my case means I don't go to the shops all the time and spend it on crap. It also means only one grocery trip a week, based on a carefully planned menu, and some lateral thinking when it comes to using what you have first. And what I try to have around these days is either a batch of my favourite new pizza dough, or the ingredients to whip some up. I love this pizza dough - it can be used for so much more than just pizza, (which is great by itself, let's face it), and I am working on few ideas which I'll tell you all about later.

What I also have in my cupboard at all times is some good chocolate. Green & Black's to be exact. Please allow me to digress for a minute. I have a wonderful, lovely girlfriend who lives in Johannesburg, called Anelle. Not only is she smart and funny and generally great company, she is also the best giver of gifts I know. She always has something to give, and it's always chosen with care and fabulous taste. One of the gifts I've received from her was a block of this wonderful chocolate, and I've been eating it ever since. (Not that particular block, mind you, that was gone in a matter of minutes). The dark chocolate is rich and smooth, the milk chocolate is not too sweet, and the white chocolate has vanilla in it! Hence, always a special place in my cupboard for this trio.

 

I wanted to do something different than just your average chocolate pizza, and decided to make little pizza pockets, one half of the batch filled with a spicy dark chocolate and hazelnut mix (thank you Cooksister for the great idea!), and the other half with white chocolate and macadamia nuts.

I started off with little pockets more or less the size of ravioli, but there wasn't enough filling to stand up to the amount of dough. For the next round I cut rounds of about 10cm diameter, placed the filling on one side, then folded them over and squeezed the edges together. This worked much better. I also added a little splash of cream to the white chocolate mix, as it was a tad dry with only the chocolate and the nuts. Next time I will use some white chocolate spread instead of the cream for a nice smooth filling, and I will also add some cardamom for some extra oomph.

These little chocolate pockets turned out really delicious, and I'm really proud of them. I hope you like them too if you decide to make them, or use them as inspiration for your own recipe.

And of course, I hope your Valentine's day is full of love, friendship, and some chocolate.

Chocolate Pizza Pockets

One quantity of my pizza dough, or use your own favourite recipe

For the white chocolate filling

about 1/2 cup of white chocolate spread
100g white chocolate, chopped
50g macadamia nuts
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

For the dark chocolate filling

100g dark chocolate, chopped
about 1/2 cup of Nutella
50g hazelnuts, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground chilli (if your tastebuds agree)



Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F

Roll out your pizza dough as thin as you can. Cut out circles of around 10cm diameter.

For the white chocolate pockets: place a dollop of white chocolate spread towards one side of the circle, top with some white chocolate, macadamia nuts and a pinch of cardamom. Fold over the other half of the dough and pinch edges closed.

For the dark chocolate pockets: place a dollop of Nutella towards one side of the circle, top with dark chocolate, hazelnuts, a pinch of cinnamon and a pinch of chilli. Fold over the other half of the dough and pinch the edges closed.

Brush the tops of the pockets with some egg for some colour.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.