Purim Fun: Stuffed Crust Hamentaschen Pizza

I have a confession to make. I’ve never made hamentaschen (osne haman in Hebrew). Admittedly, year after year I’ve stood in line at the bakery and purchased the infamous three-sided cookie in a variety of flavors and sizes, taken them home, and repackaged them in my mishloach manot (Purim gift baskets).  This year is going to be different. To start, instead of a cookie, I’ve made Stuffed Crust Hamentaschen Pizza, a fun and easy dish to get in the spirit of Purim.  After a fast nothing is more comforting that homemade pizza warm from the oven.  The dough can be made in the afternoon, left to rise, shaped into individual pizzas, and then refrigerated. After the megila reading in the evening pop the pizzas into a preheated oven and enjoy in minutes. Serve with fresh salad and a side of fish for a meal fit for royalty. 

To make the dough I used a recipe from The Complete Book of Italian Cooking, edited by Anne Hildyard. This recipe makes enough dough for approximately 10 individual pizzas that are each equivalent to one regular slice. If you’re not up for the labor involved in making individual pizzas, the recipe can be made into two medium size pizzas instead.

Pizza Dough

½ oz fresh or 2 tsp (1 package) dried yeast

1 c. slightly warmed water

1 tsp. sugar

4 ½ c. bread flour

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. oil

1)   Blend fresh yeast with a little of the measured water which has the sugar dissolved in it. For dried yeast dissolve 1 tsp. sugar in one third of the measured water, sprinkle the yeast onto the water and whisk. Leave to stand for 10-15 minutes until frothy.

2)   Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and make a well in the center, add the oil, sprinkle  over with a little flour.

3)   Add the yeast liquid and most of the remaining water and mix well until the dough starts to leave the side of the bowl. If it seems too stiff add the remaining liquid slowly.

4)   Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead well for about 10 minutes. When the dough is elastic and smooth place in a floured bowel and cover with a dish towel or plastic wrap until it has doubled in size 1-2 hours.

5)   Once the dough has risen, kneed again for 1-2 minutes and shape into desired pizza sizes.

Stuffed Crust Hamentaschen Pizza

Pizza dough

8 String cheese sticks

1 jar marinara sauce

2 c. shredded cheese

1 egg

 

    1)Dived the dough into 10 equal balls slightly larger than a golf ball. Individually roll each ball into a disk approximately six inches in diameter. The dough should be very thin. Use a bowl or other round object to cut into a perfect circle. Place on a single layer of a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

    2)   Preheat the oven to 425 F.  

    3)   Cut each cheese stick in half length wise and then in half again width wise the get four equal pieces.

    4)   Place three of the cheese stick pieces on the outer edge of the shaped pizza dough and fold over the edges to create a triangle. Crease with a fork to seal. Be sure to seal the ends so the cheese does not melt out while baking. 

1)   Place 2 Tbs. of marinara sauce in the center of the triangle and sprinkle with shredded cheese.

2)   Beat the egg and brush on the edges of the pizza dough.

3)   Bake for 10 minutes and then reduce the heat to 375 F. Continue baking for 15 minutes.