Holy Calzones

This is turning into way more of a food blog than I wanted it to be. But I haven't had much chance to do anything else lately with working at my internship and the restaurant. Once my internship is over at the end of June, I may decide on a new direction!

Anyway, a few years ago I tried to make calzones. I found some random recipe on the internet (not a lot of well-known food blogs then!) for pizza dough and stuffed it with some cheese, pepperoni and sauce. Good god were they awful. The dough was horrible, sticky and gross and it just did not work. We had to throw them away and order a real pizza. That bad. 

I've actually had pretty bad luck with yeasty doughs For some reason, they just don't like me. I've tried sourdough bread and pizza dough but they usually don't work. I need more practice, I think. But the other day I wanted to try again. So I found this recipe, probably from pinterest, as per usual but I actually don't remember how I got to the blog. This calzone recipe came out so good! It has homemade dough and homemade sauce, and it's stuffed with sausage, pepperoni, onions, cheese, and I added peppers. I don;t know if it's the BEST pizza dough I've ever had, but it worked and I'm definitely on the hunt for one that's even better.

I think next time I'm going to use chicken and broccoli for the filling, or maybe shaved steak and cheese. Possibilities are endless.

Calzones
Recipe adapted slightly from Simply Scratch

Pizza dough

• 2-1/2 cups All Purpose Flour, plus more for kneading
• 1 cup Warm Water {115-120 degrees}
• 1 packet Active Dry Yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon Honey
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Olive Oil, plus more for oiling bowl

1. Add a half teaspoon of honey into a clean large bowl. 
2. Add the hot water into the bowl and sprinkle with the packet of yeast. Stir and let sit for a few minutes. 
3. Season with a half teaspoon of salt and olive oil. 
4. Sprinkle with one cup of the flour, stir with a spatula. Add in the second cup, stir until combine. 
5. Add the remaining half cup of flour and stir by hand until combined. 
6. On a well floured surface, knead the dough (add more flour if you need to) until no longer sticky. Should take about five minutes. 

7. Form the dough into a ball and add it to the bowl with the olive oil. Coat the dough with the oil, using it to work the oil up the sides of the bowl. 
8. Cover with a towel and place in a dry warm place for about an hour.

Pizza Sauce

• 15 ounce can of Tomato Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning 
• 1/4 teaspoon dried Basil
• 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• a pinch of Red Pepper Flakes
• Kosher Salt and Black Pepper to taste 

1. In a small sauce pan over medium low heat combine the tomato sauce, herbs and spices. Stir until hot then remove off of the heat to cool.

The Calzones:

• 1 recipe for homemade pizza dough
• 8 slices of pepperoni, quartered
• 1 medium onion, sliced root to tip
• 1/2 pound Ground Italian Sausage
• 2 cups Freshly Grated Mozzarella
• 1 green pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1 whole Egg, beaten  

1. In a skillet brown the sausage, drain and set aside. 
2. Over medium heat cook onions until soft and golden. Add peppers after about 3 minutes.
3. Divide the pizza dough into 4 equal portions. Roll out to about 8 inches in diameter. 
4. Smear a couple spoonfuls of cooled pizza sauce. 
5. Top half of the circle with cooked Italian sausage, pepperoni, cooked onions and cheeses. 
6. Stretch and pull the dough over the top of the filling and twist and pinch the two seams together.
7. Beat the egg and brush it over top of the entire calzone. 
8. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20-minutes. Let cool before eating. Use any leftover pizza sauce to dunk your calzone in.


Real good.