Stuffed Potato Pockets

This recipe comes courtesy of my should-be-chef fiancé. It's not the last recipe of his you'll find on this site.

BEFORE YOU SCROLL: I recommend using leftover mashed potatoes, or cooking the potatoes the day before. It helps to get rid of excess moisture in the dough, which means you get to use less flour!

Ingredients Dough: • 1lb Potatoes (any kind) • 3 Tbsp Flour (you may need more depending on moister of potatoes) • 2 Eggs • Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg (+ whatever you like in your pantry) Filling: • 1 small Onion, diced  • 1-3 cloves Garlic, minced (depends if you live alone or not) • 4oz. Mushrooms, diced (see Additional Ingredients - you'll need 8oz. total) • 1/2 bag fresh Spinach or 1 box frozen Spinach - chopped • 7oz. whipped Cream Cheese (vegetable, herbs or chive flavor is fine) • Juice from 1/2 Lime or Lemon

• Pinch of Sugar

• Salt, Pepper (to taste)

• 1 Tbsp Rosemary (dried or fresh - or whatever you have in the pantry)

• 1 Tbsp Thyme (dried or fresh - or whatever you have in the pantry)

• Dash of sweet or dijon Mustard (optional)

Additional Ingredients: • Olive oil for sauteeing • 1 Onion, sliced

• 4oz. Mushrooms, quartered/halved • 2 cups Italian Bread Crumbs  Instructions:

The day before –

Steam the potatoes whole, with skin on, until tender, place in fridge. Peel the potatoes before moving to the next step.

OR

Cube potatoes and boil until tender, drain, place in fridge.

The day of –

1. Make the filling – Add a little olive oil to a non-stick pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the onion, garlic and mushrooms. Sauté until the onions are translucent, and the mushrooms have released all their liquid. Add spinach and sauté about 2 minutes, until just wilted. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Add the cream cheese, herbs, spices, citrus juice and mustard. Mix well. Cover and place in fridge while you make the dough.

2. Make the dough – Mash the potatoes using masher or ricer. Add flour, eggs, and spices – you might need more flour depending on the moisture of your potatoes. Add enough flour until your dough isn't sticky. If it looks like a giant dough slime monster ate your fingers, add more flour. Put to the side, and start the garnish.

3. Start the garnish – Add a little olive oil to that same pan you used up there to cook your filling, and heat over medium heat again. Add the sliced onions and quartered/halved mushrooms, stir so everything is coated in oil, and walk away. I mean, don't walk too far (obviously). Keep an eye on it, stirring occasionally, until the onions and mushrooms are caramelized/brown. While you wait - this does take a while - start filling your pockets.

4. Fill your pockets – Flour your hands. Take somewhere between a large golf ball-sized (small pocket) and a tennis ball-sized (large pocket) amount of dough in your hand, make a well in the middle and add 1 – 2 Tbsp of filling, depending on the size of your ball. Seal the ball with a little more dough, and flatten slightly to make them look like hockey pucks, large pancakes, etc. Coat on all sides with breadcrumbs. Repeat until dough or filling is gone. If there is more dough than filling, you can certainly shape the remaining dough, without any filling - quite delicious. If there is more filling than dough, you get to snack while you fry. Win-win.

5. Cook your pockets - Coat the bottom of a non-stick pan (not the same one you used before...unless your garnish is done) with 1/8" of oil (the pockets will stick if you do not use enough oil), over medium heat. Add pockets to the pan, and cook until golden brown on both sides. Repeat for remaining pockets.

6. Serve with sautéed onions and mushrooms. Garnish with fresh or dried herbs.

Servings: (3) Large 5"Pockets or (6) Small 3" Pockets

Made it? Comment below!

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NOTES:

I know there are a lot of imprecise measurements here, but, cooking is about tasting as you go. Taste that dough before you throw the egg in, if it needs salt, add salt. If you think, "...that's good, but I like more garlic!" Then by all means throw more garlic in there. Make the recipe yours.