Pizza Pocket

Many of you know that Mark and I will be moving to San Francisco shortly, so I'm trying to get rid of the food in our apartment and not buy much. This can make coming up with a creative dinner idea a little tricky, but tonight's creation was delicious! Chicagoans will understand my love for Pockets, a salad, pocket and calzone fast food-type restaurant. I usually order the greek salad, which is out-of-this-world good. The salads come with bread (or a pocket, if you will). Call me crazy, call me cheap, but after reading Bethenny Frankel's books, I know to save leftovers and try to use them! So tonight I had a leftover pocket of bread. Not much to work with, however I did pick up a couple of portobello mushroom caps yesterday figuring I could do something with them.

As the train rolled along the tracks, my creative wheels started turning (and my stomach started growling...) on my way home from the office. I started thinking that I could quickly marinate a mushroom, then add cheese, turkey pepperoni and some marinara sauce and pile into my pocket- voila! It took me about 25 minutes from start to finish to put this together, and I was quite satisfied with the result. If Mark reads this, he'll be very mad and jealous that he missed out on Pizza Pockets, so I guess this is a test to see if he's reading my blog :)

Pizza Pocket

1 portobello mushroom cap
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
Garlic salt and pepper
1 pocket/sub bun/hamburger bun (whatever type of bread you have will work)
8-10 turkey pepperonis
1/4 cup marinara or pizza sauce
1 slice provolone cheese

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic salt and pepper. Pour over mushroom and let marinate 10 minutes.
3. Place mushroom under broiler for 5 minutes. Turn over and broil for another 5 minutes.
4. Top the bottom of the bun with the mushroom, stem side up. Pour marinara/pizza sauce into mushroom. Add pepperoni, cheese and top with the other side of the bun.
5. Broil for 5 minutes and enjoy!

Tip- I really don't have much in my fridge now, so this is pretty basic. You could easily dress this up by adding sauteed onions and bell peppers, different types of cheese or even sausage. Sometimes we forget how great simple recipes can be if we use our imagination (and free sides that come with takeout...). Stay tuned, I might have some fancy-schmancy peanut butter and jelly recipe up next!