Chicken Pizza Pie Pockets

Most nights I have a plan for dinner and then some nights I like to open up the fridge and see what I have in there and what new experimental recipe I can feed my family.  I found some premade pie crust in my fridge so I decided we would start with that.  I also had a opened jar of marinara and ground chicken so I decided to put it all together with some cheese and make dinner.  Turned out pretty well!

You only need a few ingredients and a couple seasonings (not pictured).

First you need to cook up the ground chicken.  It only takes about 8-10 minutes to cook. The chicken does need seasoning so I added some Italian seasoning and garlic salt.

When the ground chicken is cooked I drained off some of the water and added in the marinara sauce.

Next just mix it up and season to taste.  I ended up adding a little more Italian seasoning because I love extra flavor.

I then took the two pie crusts that had been sitting out for about 20 minutes and rolled them out on the counter top.

I sprinkled some Italian seasoning and garlic salt on the pie crust and got out my  "biscuit cutter."  I will tell you the hard thing about cooking in two completely different kitchens messes with me sometimes and I think I have one thing at home when actually it's something I have in my work kitchen.  For this reason I thought I had biscuit cutters at home that would work perfectly for this part of the recipe but instead they were at my work kitchen and I was home.  I decided to improvise and use the top of my burger press which worked well but they were just bigger.  Use whatever works for your family, just know that you will use 2 circles per sandwich, so make sure there is an even amount.

Once we got all the circles punched out, I put half of them in a greased sheet tray with the seasoning side facing down.  I then topped them with pizza cheese. Try keeping the cheese and ingredients in the middle of the crust so it doesn't come out of the pocket.

Then add the ground chicken mixture on top.

Add finally top with the asiago cheese.

When all the ingredients are in, top each one with another pie crust circle.  Again making sure the seasoning side is on the outside.  

**TIP: You always want to make sure you seasoning at every stage of cooking. **

Since we already seasoned the meat, we want to make sure the pie crust are seasoned well.  Putting the seasoning on the outside of the pizza pie pocket will wake up your tastebuds first, before biting into the rest of it.

Now it's time to crimp the edges to give you a little pizza pocket.  The best way is to use your thumb and pointer finger and just go around the entire edge, making sure you are getting the top and bottom pie crusts pinched together so that the insides don't  all come out.

You then want to cut two slits in the top of the pie crust and oil the tops with olive oil.  Pop the sheet tray into the oven at 425 degrees for about 14-16 minutes until the crusts brown.

Here's my two little helpers!  About 7 minutes into cooking they wanted to know what smelled so good, I told them dinner and they wanted to see. This is a typical image in my kitchen.  I love their curiosity. 

Since they were so excited for dinner I recruited them to help finish the meal while the pizza pie pockets were finishing cooking.  

Yea, the pizza pockets are done!  Look how good they look.

Paxton approves and asks me to make them again!

Hope you all try out this fun recipe.  

Chicken Pizza Pie Pockets

1 package (2 crusts) premade pie crusts

1/2lb. Ground chicken

1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning, divided

3/4 tsp. Garlic salt, divided 

1/2 c. Marinara sauce

2/3 c. Pizza cheese

1/3 c. Asiago cheese

Olive oil (to brush tops)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Take out pie crusts and let it come to room temperature, about 20 min.  In a medium skillet over medium high heat add the ground chicken with 1 tsp. of Italian seasoning and 1/2 tsp. of garlic salt and cook for 8-10 minutes.  Drain off excess moisture and add in marinara sauce.  Taste and season accordingly if needed. Set aside.  When the pie crusts are at room temperature, roll them out on the counter tops and sprinkle with the remaining Italian seasoning and garlic salt.  Take a cookie or biscuit cutter and cut out 12 to 16 mini crusts.  On greased sheet tray place half of the mini pie crusts  on it, with the seasoned side facing down.  Divide the pizza cheese, ground chicken mixture, and Asiago cheese equally between the pie crusts.  Top with the remaining pie crusts and crimp the edges.  Brush tops of each pie crust with olive oil and place in the oven.  Cook for 14 to 16 minutes until pie crusts have browned.  Remove from oven and serve immediately. 

Enjoy!

-Cool