Another amazing way to use up pulled pork! Stuff it inside of bread or pizza dough with cheese, sauce, and bake! These are so scrumptious and a great way to use up leftovers!
Anyone that knows me knows that pizza is my all time favorite food. However, for me, I like to go unconventional with it. Sure don’t get me wrong a hand-tossed pie with rich tomato sauce, tons of melty cheese, and a boatload of toppings rock but I like to push the limits when it comes to it.
Since I first introduced you all to my Cheesy Ranch Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Pizza Puffs, you guys have been asking me for more variations of them. I gave you the Italian Meatball one and then came the Club Puff but you still wanted more!
Being sick with the flu now, cooking for me right now takes a lot out of me. So I’ve been really taking advantage of my crock pot (and Mr. Fantabulous) to do most of the cooking. For the pulled pork I followed my Bacon BBQ Pulled Pork Recipe tweaking the sauce and spices just a tad as I wanted more of a smokey flavor. The pizza dough is my go-to pizza dough used in all of my puffs. And of course, I added cheddar cheese to it as well. I mean it is pizza – there should be some type of cheese, right?
I began rummaging and you know, it’s pretty awesome (and scary) when you find things in your freezer that you don’t remember buying OR that you forgot about. Lo and behold I found a gorgeous 4lb pork butt that was going to be PERFECT for pulled pork.
After grabbing that bottom butt (giggle.. I so love saying that) and putting it in the fridge to thaw overnight I went and got our show snacks ready. Mr. Fantabulous has been on this Sopranos kick we’ve been watching a few episodes every night while I’ve been home recuperating.
The other thing with me and TV is honestly having free time. I work 2 jobs full time (my real job and TKW), I commute an ungodly amount of time every day, I work out 2-3 hours a day, I cook and spend time with Mr. Fantabulous and oh yeah… I sleep for 3-4 hours. TV isn’t a priority for me. Trust me, if I could I’d be glued to The Cooking Channel or Food Network practicing for the day I will be on there (a girl has to have dreams, right?).
Now back to grabbing my bottom… er I mean my pork butt bottom *wink*, when I woke up the next morning I threw the thawed piece of meat in the crock pot, the bbq sauce, and spices and let that puppy do the work for me. 10 hours later I had the most AMAZING whiskey pulled pork ever. So flippin’ tender and juicy. Sweet lord, it was awesome. And sweet lord there was A LOT of it. I mean A LOT!
One thing I love about pulled pork is that you can use it on pizzas, sliders, subs, sandwiches, nachos, lettuce wraps and so forth. Plus pulled pork freezes beautifully! Trust me I have several containers in the freezer now that I have portioned out to meals for us. Easy peasy!
Since these take longer than pizza I put these in the oven first (I gave the man a pre-snack snack to tide him over for his real snack… LOL). I patted the dough into small rounds, and put some pork in the center. Next, I cut off some chunks of sharp cheddar cheese to put on top and then squoze (yes I said squoze…. ‘squoze – the past tense of squeeze’) some BBQ sauce on top. The ends I gathered up like a pretty little purse to seal and put them down on the baking sheet.
When these were done I pulled them out, cranked the heat up, and quickly put his pie in the oven. When his real snack was done these were cool enough on the inside to eat. Okay now I may be partial since I love pulled pork but these are my favorite pizza puffs thus far. The dough was so soft and tender inside while the outside had that pizza crunch. The meat was juicy and just fell apart and that cheese was all melty and infused with the bbq sauce.
I carried his plate of pizza back, his drink, 2 puffs for me with a side of sauce just in case (remember, I’m a dipper) and a drink for me. We got all snuggled up in bed and then silence.
Now did you ever *know* when someone is staring at you? Like you can feel their eyes boring a hole in the side of your head stare? Yeah… Mr. Fantabulous was doing that (which I expected) since I had something that he did not. Without moving my eyes to look at him I said between bites “Honey you won’t like these. They are a new type of pizza puffs and it’s stuffed with pulled pork.”
<deep sigh exhale> “Oh yeah I don’t like pulled pork. Maybe make it next time with chicken. I’d like that then.” LOL yeah sure, I’ll get right on that babe.
All he kept saying was “OMG OMG OMG that’s what my grandma’s house was like! Everything had plastic on it! I can remember when I would go sleep there and I had to sleep on that thing in the middle of the summer with no air conditioner! I lost layers of skin on that thing!” Then he restarted the movie only to have Paulie move and the chair ‘crinkled’. Stop went the movie and more belly laughs came out. By this time I was cracking up because he was laughing so hard.
He said after she had passed away one cousin got the furniture. He said that it looked pristine – not a mark on it. HOWEVER… *giggle*…. however when they took the plastic off the material pretty much disintegrated due to it never having any air on it. Did you have a relative who did that? Cover their furniture in plastic?
While we’re, several years way behind of the times in watching this show, it’s all good. I’m having an absolute blast now with it. Plus I don’t have to wait until the next week to see what happens. And if you’ve seen it… NO SPOILERS, please. I wouldn’t do that to you so don’t do it to me.
PrintPulled Pork Pizza Puffs
Another amazing way to use up pulled pork! Stuff it inside of bread or pizza dough with cheese, sauce, and bake! These are so scrumptious and a great way to use up leftovers!
Ingredients
Pulled Pork
- 4lb pork butt (boston butt)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup BBQ Spice Rub
BBQ Sauce
- 5 cups bbq sauce (not honey)
- 1 cup whiskey
- 1 cup water
- 3 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1/2 cup molasses, not blackstrap
- 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 2 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Additional Items
- Best Pizza Dough
- 12–16 ounces cubed cheddar cheese
- Cornmeal
- 3 tablespoon unsalted melted butter
Instructions
Make the Pork
- Rinse and pat dry the pork.
- Generously rub the spice rub all over the meat.
- Place, fat side up in the crock pot.
- Add enough water just so it comes up 1” high.
- Cover and cook for 8-10 hours on low.
- When done, remove from the pot using tongs.
- Allow to drain slightly.
- Place the pork in a serving bowl and using 2 forks, shred the meat to desired chunk size.
Make the BBQ Sauce
- While the pork is cooking in a medium sauce pan whisk together the bbq sauce, whiskey, water, smoke, paprika, onion powder, cayenne, salt and pepper.
- Bring the sauce to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer stirring occasionally until thickened. ~30 minutes.
Dress the Shredded Pork
- Pour 2-2 1/2 cups of the bbq sauce on top and gently mix. You don’t want to soak it in the sauce but rather just get it infused with the flavors. It should be just wet.
Make the Puffs
- Preheat oven to 425F. Lightly spray a 9×13” metal pan and then line it with parchment (leaving a 1” overhang). Spray the parchment paper, sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of cornmeal over the top and set the pan aside. Pinch off a 2×2” round piece of dough and flatten on a lightly floured board to a 4” round circle. Place 1/4 cup of the pulled pork in the center. Top with a chunk of cheese and drizzle about a teaspoon of additional BBQ sauce on top.
- Place in the center of the dough and gently pull up the edges to form a purse. Gently pinch the ends together and tuck them into itself until tightly sealed. Place seam side down in the pan. Repeat until all the dough is used up – you’ll place the dough balls side by side. It’s okay that they touch barely but don’t overcrowd as they will expand.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the tops with the melted butter. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Remove from oven and serve with additional BBQ sauce on the side.
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