Happy Father’s Day to those of you celebrating the impact of a man in your life, be it a father, grandfather, uncle, step-father, father figure, husband, furbaby-daddy, etc. I’ll be with my family this morning at dim sum and then with my in-laws tonight for takeout. We sure know how to part-ay, right?

The man who has had the greatest and most positive influence in my life is the Husband. He is my pillar of strength. Unfortunately, he’s the pillar of strength for a lot of people, which means he often bears everyone else’s burdens. He’s the one we all turn to when we have a problem, often the first one we turn to, in fact. He’s expected to have all the answers, the man with the plan. I admit, I bring him more stress than joy sometimes. It’s like my brain turns off when I’m with him. Or I infuriate him to no end with my mood swings, temper tantrums and thoughtlessness. It’s a miracle he’s still around!

For today’s Sunday Supper, we’re making food for the men in our lives. The first thing I thought of was ham ‘n pineapple pizza because it’s one of the Husband’s favourite foods. In Canada, we call it a Hawaiian pizza. We were in Vegas a long time ago, when we were 22 and still young ‘n beautiful. We went to a pizza joint and asked for a Hawaiian pizza. The girl at the counter stared at us as if we each had two heads. It took us a minute to figure out she had no idea what we were talking about (or as people like to think we wacky Canucks say, “a-boot”).

To really make this recipe special, I didn’t just make a pizza. Nope. I made pizza pockets. When we were in high school, we used to eat McCain pizza pockets like they were going out of style. Even though my parents hated preservative packed foods ‘n canned goods, they’d give in when we begged them to buy us pizza pockets. I remember coming home every day, microwaving one of those bad boys ‘n munching happily as I’d watch Saved by the Bell and the Disney afternoon cartoons (while ignoring my homework, of course).

My recipe today is inspired by both the Husband and a touch of nostalgia.

Ham & Pineapple Pizza Pockets

Pizza Dough (adapted from Bobby Flay)

3 1/2 to 4 cups bread flour, plus more for rolling
1 tsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp dried rosemary
5 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 1/2 cups warm water, 110 degrees F
3 tbsp olive oil, plus more for greasing bowl

Combine the bread flour, sugar, yeast, salt, rosemary and garlic in the bowl of a stand mixer. With the dough attachment and the mixer running, add the water and olive oil and beat until the dough forms into a ball. At this point, change to the dough attachment and keep beating the dough on medium for approximately 5 minutes. If the dough is sticky, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it comes together in a solid ball. If the dough is too dry, add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Grease a large bowl with olive oil, add the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm area to double in size. This will take about 1 hour. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes.

Pizza Sauce

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp Italian herbs

Mix together and let stand for an hour to allow the flavours to blend. Makes about 3 cups of sauce. You can refrigerate or freeze any leftovers.

Assembly:

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup ham, diced
1 cup diced pineapple
1 egg, beaten (to be used as pastry wash)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. If using a pizza stone, keep the stone in the oven while it preheats.

*note: you can use as much of the filling as you want. Warning – don’t overstuff the pizza pockets like I did. As you’ll see from my photos below, they exploded a bit while baking*

Flour your counter. Tip: use two sheets of parchment paper for easy rolling. I laid one sheet of parchment paper down on my counter, spread flour over top and then placed my dough on. Sprinkle flour on the top of the dough and place a sheet of parchment paper over top. Roll out half of the dough into a square, if you can. I couldn’t – mine were circles. Make sure the dough is rolled out evenly, to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into four pieces. Top each piece with a few spoonfuls of sauce, ham, pineapple and mozzarella. Fold the corners over and pinch together.




Repeat with the second half of the dough. You will have 8 pizza pockets. Brush the beaten egg over the tops of each pizza pocket.

Place on a pizza stone or baking sheet. Use cornmeal on the bottom to prevent sticking if you’d like. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and there’s a hollow sound when you knock on the dough.

I really loved how herby ‘n garlicky these pizza pockets were. We refrigerated the pockets we couldn’t eat and popped them in the toaster oven the next day to finish them off. These were a big hit with the Husband, which was the whole point so I’m a happy blogger.

Make sure you check out what the rest of the Sunday Supper gang is making today (hell, fuggedabout the men. I want to eat everything on this list!):

Manly Starters:

• BBQ Chicken Nacho by Country Girl in The Kitchen
• Beer Battered Fried Mushrooms by Kudos Kitchen by Renee
• Burrata Bresaola and Arugula Appetizer by Family Foodie
• Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce by Hip Foodie Mom
• Chipotle Pork Belly-Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers by The Redhead Baker
• Coconut Beer-Battered Prawns with Spicy Marmalade by The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Devils on Horseback by Nosh My Way
• Fried Pickles by Cookin’ Mimi
• Garlic and Herb Wine Jelly by What Smells So Good?
• Maple Sriracha Chicken Wings by Manu’s Menu
• Tomato Bacon Jam by Feed Me, Seymour

Manly Mains:

• Bacon Bourbon BBQ Burgers by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
• Bacon Cheeseburger Crustless Quiche by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Beef Barbacoa by Casa de Crews
• Beef Short Rib Sandwich by Life Tastes Good
• Beer Brats with Pepper Relish by Jelly Toast
• Beer Can Chicken by Curious Cuisiniere
• Chicago Style-Pizza by Small Wallet, Big Appetite
• Chili Dog Casserole by Simple Gourmet
• Chipotle Pork Chops by girlichef
• Coconut & Lime Grilled Shrimp Skewers by Take A Bite Out of Boca
• Colossal Burger by Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
• Gluten Free Lemon Pepper Wings by Gluten Free Crumbley
• Grilled Chipotle Chicken Pizza by Peaceful Cooking
• Grilled Lobster with Miso Butter by Kimchi MOM
• Grilled Sweet Guava Chicken by The Foodie Army Wife
• Ham and Pineapple Pizza Pockets by gotta get baked
• Huevos Rancheros Casserole by Pescetarian Journal
• Lacquered Short Ribs in the Slow Cooker by Shockingly Delicious
• Maple Chipotle Barbecue Pork Tenderloin by Flavor Mosaic
• Meatball Burger on Garlic Bread by Healthy.Delicious.
• Mom’s Slow Roasted Brisket by Food Lust People Love
• Perfectly Pan Seared Steak by Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch
• Pollo al Peperoncino by Run DMT
• Polish Coal Miner Piggies (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls- Golabki) by Rants from my Crazy Kitchen
• Red Chile Shredded Chicken Tacos. How to win over your man’s stomach and steal his heart. by Simply Healthy Family
• Ropa Vieja by Meal Diva
• Salt of the Earth Ribs by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Salisbury Steak w/ Loaded Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom Gravy by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Smoked Turkey Drumsticks by Cindy’s Recipes and Writing
• Stuffed Chipotle Bacon Cheese Burgers by Peanut Butter and Peppers
• Stuffed Pork Chops by The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
• Tex-Mex Gut Buster Chili by Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen
• The Cleveland Hogg Burger by Seduction in the Kitchen

Manly Desserts:

• Beer Funnel Cake by Killer Bunnies, Inc.
• Black Forest Cake by Noshing with the Nolands
• Carob Chip Cookies by Pies and Plots
• Chunky Monkey Vegan Banana Bread by Ninjabaking.com
• Classic Cheesecake by Hot Momma’s Kitchen Chaos
• Fat Man’s Pie by Magnolia Days
• Mandarin orange cake aka southern pig pickin’ cake by Baking & Browning
• Pizookies by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Grilled Pound Cake Stacks with Roasted Strawberries by Melanie Makes
• Strawberry Rhubarb Pie With Mascarpone Cream by La Bella Vita Cucina

Wine Pairings for Man Food #SundaySupper byENOFYLZ Wine Blog

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