Calzones

Strange day of days, I’m flying tonight instead of today! Free mornings to do fake work instead!

Calzones are a mysterious breed of creatures. Delicious, but remarkably hard to find in this area. (There are two restaurants with decent creations, both about an hour away.) Calzones aren’t as difficult as you might think; more trouble than stirfry, certainly, but making dough, mixing the filling and folding/shaping are all rather straightforward.

Dough: 1/4 oz yeast, 1.5 cups warm water, 4 cups flour (I chose a bread flour, which resulted in far tougher dough that I anticipated. Beware.) 1 teaspoon salt, 1.5 teaspoons sugar, 1 tablespoon olive oil

Proof the yeast, as necessary, add ingredients together, knead until smooth, let rise for ~90 minutes. If you’ve ever watched the I Love Lucy episode on bread, in which bread rises and takes up the entire kitchen, this is about what you should expect. I formed 6 flat sheets (~8″x10″)to roll the filling into. The dough was rather tough and a rolling pin is suggested.

Filling: Here is your chance to go absolutely crazy, put in anything your heart desires! Add some combination of Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil, Mozarrella, Parmesean, Provolone Cheeses, Pepperoni, or anything else. Brocoli works well, but be sure to chop it up, soak it, and boil it first. Unless health issues are of concern, one can never add too much cheese. I added perhaps 3/4 of a cup of filling to each 8″x10″ sheet of dough, leaving about an inch perimeter.

Brush this outer edge with a mixture of a beaten egg and 1 tablespoon water. This will serve as a sort of glue. Fold the dough over the filling and then fold the edges and seal them. This is more annoying than it sounds. If the dough bunches up anywhere, you’ll get a lump of dough without any of the tasty filling. D: Spending more time here is absolutely worth it.

Brush the rest of the egg mixture on top of each ‘zone. I added sea salt, parmesean cheese and a sprinkle of love to the top of each one, just to make it even better.

Cook at 375 for 25 minutes. The surface should be firm golden-brown but not a rock-solid or carbonized black.

Calzone with Fork on Table