Reg*u*lar read*ers should already know I’m a huge fan of Nickelodeon’s new Teenage Mutant Ninja Tur*tles show (and Ninja Tur*tles in gen*eral), but some*thing you might not know is that I also love to cook!
Though I’ve never had the moti*va*tion to start a cook*ing blog (because the inter*net needs more of those, right?), I do love to exper*i*ment with recipes and even invent my own on occa*sion. I’ve never done a cook*ing post before, but how appro*pri*ate that my first one should be as geeky and Ninja Turt*ley as the recipe I’m about to show you.
That’s right kids, today I’m going to show you how to make…
…Pizza Gyoza!
One of my favorite things about the new TMNT show are all the crazy, pizza-related food con*coc*tions they come up with (pizza milk*shake!?). In the 80’s car*toon, the Ninja Tur*tles were all about wacky pizza top*pings, but in Nick’s mod*ern, CGI-rendered world their palates seem to be a lit*tle more sophis*ti*cated. Granted, not by much.
A one-way ticket to Flavorville!
In Sea*son 1, Episode 8, April intro*duces the Tur*tles to Mr. Murakami, a local noo*dle shop owner who is blind. After a run-in with the Pur*ple Dragon gang where the Tur*tles save Mr. Murakami’s life, he cooks up a hot, steamy batch of pizza gyoza (pot stick*ers) as a spe*cial way to thank them. For these four green guys, pizza dumplings were obvi*ously a huge hit.
After see*ing it on the show, I became obsessed with the idea of mak*ing pizza gyoza for real. I con*sulted with one of the coolest peo*ple I know– a fel*low Ninja Tur*tle fan who also hap*pens to be a great cook–and a few week*ends ago the two of us came up with this recipe.
Pizza Gyoza Recipe
Gyoza & Fill*ing Ingredients:
3 large cloves of gar*lic, minced
1 lb. mild Ital*ian sausage, removed from casing
2 small sticks pep*per*oni, cooked to ren*der juices & chopped
The green stalks of 8 spring onions, sliced small
8 oz. shred*ded Mozarella cheese
3/4 tsp. Ital*ian seasoning
1 pkg. Won*ton wrappers
Dip*ping Sauce Ingredients:
3/4 cup pizza sauce
3 tsp. bal*salmic vinegar
Pep*per*oni juices
Preparation:
Step 1: Cut pep*per*oni up into 1/4″ cubes. Heat a sauté pan over medium low heat. Add a dime size dol*lop of olive oil, the pep*per*oni cubed and one clove of minced gar*lic to the pan. Lightly sauté the meat, ren*der*ing out the fat, about 5–7 min*utes. With a slot*ted spoon remove the meat and gar*lic, reserv*ing the fat and oil for use in the dip*ping sauce. Set meat aside to cool.
Note: The pep*per*oni juice is to give the dip*ping sauce a super-charged burst of con*cen*trated pizza fla*vor! You can leave it out, but I don’t rec*om*mend it.
Step 2: In a large bowl mix the sausage meat, remain*ing minced gar*lic, the cooled pep*per*oni, 8oz of shred*ded moz*zarella and the sliced green onion stalks. Get your hands dirty!
Step 3: Prep a small bowl of water and lay out the won*ton wrap*pers. Grab a small por*tion of the gyoza fill*ing (about half the size of a golf*ball and place in the cen*ter of the wrap*per. Wet your index fin*ger and run it along the edge around the fill*ing, halfway around the won*ton. Bring the edges of the won*ton up together, wrap*ping the meat, and pinch together the wet and dry edges, seal*ing the gyoza. Next, make pleats in the dough around the edges and set aside, tak*ing care to press the dumplings down on the oppo*site side of the pleated edge, so the dumpling sits with pleats up.
Step 4: Heat up a large skil*let over medium heat. Place about 1.5 tbs of veg*etable oil in the pan and move around so that it coats the pan’s sur*face. Place the gyoza in the pan, pleat edge up, so that they aren’t touch*ing. Sauté Uncov*ered for 3 min*utes until the bot*toms have browned. Next, add 1/4 cup if water to the pan, tak*ing care to use the pan lid as a shield. Quickly cover the dumplings and simmer/steam the dumplings for 2 min*utes. Check the dumplings. If the fill*ing feels firm, uncover and cook an addi*tional 2 min*utes until the water has cooked off. Remove the dumplings from the pan.
Step 5: Mix pizza sauce, bal*samic vine*gar, and pep*per*oni juices together for the dip*ping sauce, then serve with hot gyoza!
Note: The vine*gar and pep*per*oni juice work together to give the pizza sauce more “pizza” fla*vor (ver*sus just tast*ing like tomato) as well as help thin it out to resem*ble more of a true soy-based gyoza sauce. I tried just the pizza sauce alone, but it doesn’t taste as good. Def*i*nitely add the vine*gar and pep*pa*roni juice!
All that’s left to do now is eat and enjoy! And let me tell you, these things taste amaz*ing. Our goal when com*ing up with this recipe was to make them taste as fla*vor*ful and “pizza-y” as pos*si*ble. They really do taste like a fresh, hot slice of pep*per*oni and sausage pizza…only in dumpling format!
Bet*ter keep a close eye on your gyozas when Mikey’s around, though…
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