Unexpected Foods You Can Cook In A Waffle Iron

Val's Version 

(Denver, CO)

Thinking outside of the box. My philosophy. Thanks to my brother-in-law, Dave, I was given a waffle iron and have been indulging in all types of waffle recipes. I can honestly say, none of them were as creative as this next piece. Jen and I thought it would be neat to spice it up a bit and use the waffle iron for a more savory dish … or 2. 

I decided to do a Waffle Pizza! We created a few different pizzas with a variation of toppings. I must say, all 4 waffle calzone pizza pockets came out great (so I heard)! The first one created wasn't the prettiest. Had to learn to trim the outside of the crust with more of a precise cut as I made more. I also cooked mine last and the crust was rolled out a little too thin, therefore the guts didn't quite stay in place, but that's a lesson learned. 

Instead of going the overly domesticated route and preparing the dough from scratch, I used Pillsbury Thin Crust pizza dough. I rolled it out and cut in half to make 2 separate pizzas. I didn't really buy anything special for the toppings and used what we had; pizza sauce, pepperoni, pineapple, peppers, mozzarella cheese, and italian spices. After placing half of the strip of dough onto the iron, I layered it with sauce, cheese and additional toppings. 

After I created our fillings, I folded the remaining half of the dough over the toppings. Closed the iron and cooked for about 3-5 minutes, depending on how thick the dough was rolled out. While the waffle pizza was turning into a belly satisfying treat, I trimmed the edges with the pizza cutter. 

After checking the waffle to make sure it was cooked through, I removed it from the iron with a spatula and cut in quarters.

The midgets really enjoyed this new version of an italian classic!

Hats off to Mo Momma and her creativity with making a Waffle Pizza!

Jen's Version

(Acworth, GA)

You know when you're getting married and you go to the store to register for gifts? You know how they give you a scanner/gun thingy that you use to scan everything you like/want/dream of/have no use for and add to your registry? Yeah, that's how I got my waffle maker. "Oh I can make waffles!" I exclaimed as I scanned the waffle maker. Turned out, one of our wonderful wedding guests bought it for us. I think a few months after we were married, I attempted waffles. I have a faint memory of burnt waffles and an impossibly dirty waffle maker. It remained dormant for a few years after that. That was until probably 6 months ago. I was watching Food Network and saw a clip highlighting Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffle restaurant in Atlanta. Didn't take much to get me to bust out that old waffle maker and try again. This time, the waffles came out wonderful! Lightly crisped yet fluffy. I guess me and the waffle maker just had some growing up to do.  That or I just needed to spray some Pam on it...

So Val sent me a link for "Unexpected Foods you can Cook in a Waffle Iron". I looked through all of them and quite honestly wanted to try them all. I was leaning towards the waffle hamburgers, but I already had tortillas and a soft spot for Mexican food so I went with the Quesadillas. I used chicken sausage with red and green peppers for the meat. I've been on a chicken sausage kick. Fine, I'll be honest. Chicken sausage was on sale...

Mmh, beer. This has nothing to do with the recipe...

After seeing what Val had to do, I feel like I cheated or something. Literally, I just threw sausage and cheese onto a tortilla and topped with a second tortilla and closed the lid for 4 minutes. 

Voila! You have a Quesadilla! I must say, although not exactly revolutionary, I wouldn't have thought to cook a Quesadilla in the waffle maker. Makes this 5 year old beauty just that more useful!

What's the cereal tagline about mom's liking it and kid's approving? Do I have it backwards? Whatever it is - that's what we have here. 

Shout out to Mo Momma!