Copycat Costco Chicken Packets

Ingredients

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1 cup shredded provolone

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

2 cups skinless chopped rotisserie chicken meat

4 slices cooked and crumbled bacon

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1/3 cup good-quality prepared creamy Caesar dressing

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound pizza dough, at room temperature

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Combine the mozzarella, provolone and Parmesan in a large bowl and toss to combine. Transfer 1/2 cup of the cheese mixture to a small bowl and reserve.
• Add the chicken, bacon and chives to the large bowl with the cheese. Drizzle with the Caesar dressing and season with several grinds of black pepper. Toss until everything is combined and well coated.  
• Divide the pizza dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll one piece into a 7-by-9-inch rectangle. With one of the long sides closest to you, arrange a quarter of the filling in a log across the center of the rectangle, leaving an inch of space at each side edge. Fold in the sides, then fold the bottom piece of dough over the filling and roll up to enclose it, trimming away any excess dough. Pinch the seams together to seal well. Place the roll seam-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling, leaving about 2 inches between each on the baking sheet.  
• Brush the rolls all over with the melted butter and sprinkle with the reserved cheese mixture. Bake until the rolls are golden and the cheese topping is crusty and browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving. 

Notes

• I didn't have provolone so I just doubled the mozzarrella
• I used precooked, crumbled bacon  (pantry staple around here)
• I used this pizza dough recipe, but if there were a TJ's around here, I'd probably buy it.
• It says "good quality Caesar, but I used a cheap-o bottled dressing and it was good.  I saw other versions of this recipe that used ranch.
• These get a LOT of filling, but it melts down as it bakes, so go for it.  Also, they looked like lumpy messes but I soon figured out that once I placed them on the baking sheet it was easy to mold them into nice rectangles.
• They are a pretty big serving, but it might be good kid food if it were divided into 6 portions instead of 8.  Or just cut the big ones in half.  
• Nick declared the filling to be "just like the Costco" version.  The crust is a little different, but it was still good.

Bread Bowls

2 packets yeast (4 and 1/2 teaspoons)
2 and 1/4 cups (540ml) warm water
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons salt*
2 Tablespoons (30ml) olive oil
6 cups (780g) bread flour
egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon milk


Pour the warm water over yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Or, if you don’t have a stand mixer, a regular large mixing bowl. Whisk together and allow to sit for 5 minutes. 

Add the sugar, salt, olive oil, 4 cups of bread flour. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, then add remaining 2 cups of flour. Beat on low speed for 5-6 minutes. The dough should be thick, yet soft. And only slightly sticky. It should pull away from the sides of the bowl as it mixes. If it’s too sticky, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Then place into a large greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. (I just use the same mixing bowl– remove the dough, grease it with nonstick spray or olive oil, put the dough back in.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm environment to rise until doubled, about 90 minutes(mine didn't take this long).

Once doubled in size, punch down the dough to release any air bubbles. Remove dough from the bowl and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Punch down again to release any more air bubbles if needed.

Using a sharp knife or dough scraper, cut into 6 even pieces. Form each into a large ball.
Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Place 3 dough balls onto each. Cover lightly and set aside to rest for 20 minutes as the oven preheats.

Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Brush each dough ball with egg wash and, using a sharp knife, score an X into the tops of each.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Once cool, cut around the top and scoop out the insides, fill with soup and enjoy.


Notes:
*The original recipe didn't specify what kind of salt, so I guessed and used kosher. They came out very under-salted, so try it with table salt instead.

*I've only used these with chowder so far, so I'm not sure how they'll hold up to a brothy soup.