Hot Pockets are a nostalgic struggle food for me from the days of being a broke college kid with very mediocre cooking skills. Now that I'm in a different phase of life I decided to make a couple Hot Pockets from scratch, but not just any Hot Pockets... Beef Welling Hot Pockets. These were fun to make as a spinoff of a classic dish.

Prepare the steak. Season well with salt and black pepper and sear in a sauté pan, about 2 minutes per side. Remove and tent with foil to rest before slicing.

Make the duxelles. Finely chop 1/2 package of baby bella mushrooms, 1 shallot, and 5-6 cloves of garlic. Toss into the same sauté pan the steak was seared in with butter and dried thyme over medium heat. Sauté until most of the liquid has evaporated then deglaze with a couple heavy splashes of dry sherry and 2 tbsp of dried parsley. Allow the liquid to evaporate again until the consistency is like a thick paste. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Make the hot pockets. Lay out 1 sheet of puff pastry and layer with 2 slices of prosciutto, a heavy spread of the duxelles, Dijon mustard, 1/2 of the sliced steak, and 1 slice of Havarti cheese. Paint the edges of the puff pastry with an egg wash then fold over. Firmly press the edges around the filling. Paint the top of the puff pastry with the egg wash and crimp with a fork. Score the tops diagonally (both ways). Bake on parchment paper in a preheated oven to 425 degrees for 14-15 minutes until golden brown.

Serve after allowing the hot pockets to cool. Everybody knows the pain of biting into a molten lava hot pocket.