Week #26: Nebraska - Nebraskan Runza Pizza

State:  Nebraska

For the state of Nebraska, I was originally going to use corn in the ingredients until I heard about the Runza.  A Runza is a like a Russian Hot Pocket.  Nebraska has a lot of immigrants from Russia and the Runza is a very popular dish here.  I decided to go the traditional route and instead of making a personalized Runza, I decided for the pizza challenge to do more of a Stromboli style pizza.  I really enjoyed it and I hope you do too!

Ingredients Needed:

1 cups warm water

1 packages quick or active dry yeast

1⁄4 cup sugar

1⁄2 and ¼ teaspoons salt

1 egg

1⁄8 cup butter, melted

3 1⁄4 cups flour

Filling:

1⁄2 lbs hamburger

1⁄4 cup onion, chopped

1.5 cups cabbage, shredded

1⁄4 cup water

½ and ¼ teaspoons salt

1⁄4 teaspoon pepper

Runza Dough:

First, mix water, yeast, sugar and salt. Stir until dissolved.  Then add the egg and melted butter.   Stir in flour and put in the freezer for 15 minutes or refrigerate for 4 hours, depending on how much time you have. 

Filling:

In a medium pan or skillet on medium heat, brown the ground meat.  Add the onion and cook until it becomes translucent.  Next, add the cabbage, seasonings and water, simmering for 15-20 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside until mixture cools. 

 

Pizza:

Preheat oven to 450.  On a pizza stone, thin out the dough like you would when making a pizza.  Add a thin coat of olive oil to the crust.  Next on one half of the crust, add all of the mixture and then a layer of cheddar cheese on top.  Leave at least one inch from the bottom.  Next, gently fold over the dough till it gets to the end of the mixture.  Finally, fold over the last inch and mold across with a fork.  Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is slightly browned.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.  The Runza pizza will be very hot, so you need to cool it down before you eat it.  You can also slice it in sections to cool faster.   

Pairing:

This is comfort food and a spicy or hoppy beer would go great with this.  I decided on an IPA and did not find a beer from Nebraska.  I hear that Nebraska Brewing Company is putting out some great beer, so I would try something from them. 

Learning Moments: 

I wish I would have stuffed the Runza with more of the mixture.  I felt that I had more dough than actual meat and veggies.  Also, I also used mozzarella cheese and would prefer a cheddar cheese with this, as it would have made it pop with flavor more.  Overall, this was very good and tasted really good.  It is definitely worth trying!!  Cheers!