Skip the narrative and get right to the calzone recipe
Heather says:
So, what’s fearless about a calzone? The fact that I have not been able to get a good picture of one in almost 3 years. So earlier this week I said to heck with it, that’s my fearless feat for Friday. I’m going to get over myself and post a lumpy calzone, because they are too easy and too good not to share.
If you are playing along with our Fearless Friday meme on your own blog, please add your link via the Mr. Linky. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to share in the comments.
So you ask, why are my calzones lumpy if they are so simple? That’s easy, I prefer a thin crust stuffed within an inch of its doughy little life with vegetables, pepperoni, and cheese. One batch of pizza dough usually yields 4 – 6 calzones depending on their desired size. If your goal is to make homemade Hot Pocket wannabes, (Everyone sing Hot Pockets!â„¢) you’ll get six to eight. I’ve filed this under vegetarian, as one only needs to omit meat toppings to have a vegetarian version.
Homemade Calzones
Ingredients:
- 1 batch pizza dough
- 1 batch pizza sauce
- shredded mozzarella
- various thinly sliced toppings: pepperoni, bell pepper, onions, etc
- Olive oil for brushing (you’ll need a pastry brush)
- water to seal the dough (you just need a finger)
- a fork
- cornmeal or cooking spray depending on whether you have a pizza stone or baking sheet
Follow the recipe for the pizza dough, through the first rise. Once you get there, divide the dough into the desired portion size. (Mine was so big I only got 3 from the batch). We normally double the dough to have leftovers for Mr. Heather’s lunch.
Preheat the oven to 375F.
Roll the dough out into something that approximates a circle.
Dampen your finger and wet the edge of the crust all the way around.
There are two ways to sauce your calzone. To demonstrate the topping distribution area I sauced the dough first. You may wish to add toppings and then add 1/4 cup or so of pizza sauce over your toppings to prevent the dough from absorbing any.
Add your toppings.
Once again dampen the edge of your dough circle.
Fold.
Spray the baking sheet or sprinkle a hot pizza stone with cornmeal.
Transfer the calzone to the baking sheet and use a fork to seal the rim. ( I do this after transferring, as I seem to pop them open and this saves a step).
Use a pastry brush to coat the calzone with olive oil. This is the difference between a lovely golden crust or a floury, pale abomination. Do not skip, capisce?
Use a sharp knife to cut two or three slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape.
Bake for 10 – 15 minutes at 375F. Larger calzones will take a little longer, so adjust your cooking time as necessary, just peek at it from time to time. If you decide to be brave and make giant calzones, use a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil to shield the crust the first half of baking.
These freeze well before baking or can be reheated in the microwave with good results. Don’t be scared to make a large batch.
Enjoy!
Please help spread the meme by adding the Fearless Friday badge or mentioning the meme. Thank you!
I have been a huge slacker as of lately and am lucky to even get a supper done. I’ll try for something next week. I need some ideas though.
Yummy!
I need to make some of these for the family! They will be boring though as no one likes the veggies on/in their pizza.
Thanks for hosting. 🙂 Have a great weekend!
I think our family favorite has to be meatball calzones. I’m the only one that goes for a lot of veggies and I put the slits on mine into an H so no one accidentally gets the jalapenos.
They look sooo good, but it’s too hot here to turn on the oven.
Maybe on the grill!
I think they’d work just fine on a grill. If you try it, would you share your results?
Yay, thanks for the “freeze well” tip. Putting them on the list of things to make soon! We eat calzones probably twice a month already, but I didn’t think of freezing them.
I know it’s not Friday, but I’ll be making some cherry preserves tonight. Wish me luck, I haven’t done those before, but my fig and strawberry preserves were gobbled up, and there was a sale on cherries… ;o)
I did innovate one dish this week, pork ribs in the crock pot. Ribs were on sale and it’s too hot to grill or run the oven, so I smeared them down with a sauce I made from a can of tomato paste and a nearly equal quantity of yellow “hot dog” mustard (the cheap stuff), into which I stirred a generous amount of oregano, sea salt, minced garlic, black pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. I oiled the crock with olive oil and poured about a half-inch of beer in the bottom (oh darn, I had to drink the rest before it went flat!), then “rolled up” the ribs and stuck ’em in. Then I roughly chopped up an onion, a bell pepper, three stalks of celery, and some small red potatoes (skin on) and dumped these on top, put the lid on, and turned the crock pot on high. About five hours later, the meat was falling off the bone and absolutely delicious, sort of “poor man’s osso bucco”! I’ll be doing that again.
How did your preserves turn out? I love cherries, but they aren’t local, so my chances of ever making preserves are slim.
With a family of seven…the calzones are a GREAT choice for mid-week dinners. You can make them ahead of time…or even THAT night (they are relatively quick). The are easily customized for each person’s taste.
Great fearless Friday selection. The Olive Oil suggestion is going to be utilized the next time I make these…I usually use a bit of spray coating but I think Olive Oil will be much tastier!
I TOTALLY forgot to post a link Friday!
It was actually my husband’s “fearlessness” – getting ready for HIS in-laws’ visit and overcoming (or trying to) his desire to, um, NOT entertain!
Oh don’t worry, these things stay open. I appreciate your being involved.
I tried this one…
Here is my blog on it: http://sassymarie.blogspot.com/2009/08/i-experimented.html
This is a little bit hard to prepare, i think.
And I thought I was the sensible one. Thanks for stetnig me straight.