The Glory of Calzones

By Caroline Clough in Food on Apr 20, 2007 5:29PM

For this week's eating in entry we thought we'd get back into making something with a bit more substance and sophistication. Well, when we say sophistication we really mean effort. If you've ever lived in or visited New York (the state not the city) you'll know that calzones are always on the menu at a pizza joint. We've found this to be less true in Chicago and decided that instead of trying to track down a place in our neighborhood to make calzones for us, we'd just make them for ourselves (god dammit). What's the point of liking to cook if you're not willing to learn how to make something you've always ordered in? No point at all. And so, without further ado, the glory that is homemade calzones!

We planned on feeding a good number of people and this recipe is designed for that purpose. It can give eight people one calzone all to themselves ... or sixteen people half a calzone to cherish, relish and digest. The recipe takes a little planning since the dough is best if left to sit overnight before being baked. We prepared the calzones hours before we were going to bake them and they fared well for the additional time they spent in the refrigerator.

What You Need:

1 food processor
1 pastry brush and small bowl filled with water
1 rolling pin
1 baking sheet or a fair amount of aluminum foil
1 oven

For the dough (as suggested by this cookbook):

1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (we actually used a little bit more but go with the recipe)
3 1/2 cups flour
pinch of salt

For the Filling:

4 cups shredded mozarella cheese (we used the grocery store brand, pre-shredded)
1 15 ounce container of part skim ricotta cheese
2 cups parmesan cheese (we used pre-shredded)
Anything else: We chose to fill a few of our calzones with cherry tomatoes, black olives, jalapenos and pressed garlic in addition to the cheese. The possibilities are endless and we encourage you to choose what you like.

What You Do:

1. Combine the water, yeast, honey and olive oil in the food processor. Mix until the yeast dissolves and the mixture is bubbly.

2. Add the flour (in three parts) and pulse. Add the salt and pulse again. Run the processor until the dough makes a ball. (Our dough never quite made a ball thus a little added olive oil).

3. Take the dough and place on a lightly floured surface and knead for 2 minutes.

4. Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover it well and put it in the refrigerator overnight.

5. Once your overnight has been accomplished take the dough out and divide it into 4 balls. Then cut those balls in half, leaving you with 8 small balls of dough. (Simple math, you gotta love it).

6. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. On a well floured surface roll each ball into an approximate circle. We found ourselves slightly incapable of making a perfect circle but as long as the circle is approximately 6-7 inches wide you should be fine. The thickness of the dough is very thin, we'd say less than half an inch. You don't want it to be thin as a crepe but you don't want it thick as a pancake either ... find the middle ground.

7. In the center of your flattened dough place four tablespoons ricotta, 1/4 cup (or more) mozzarella and whatever else you're going to fill the calzone with. Don't get too crazy about the proportions or your calzone won't be able to close. Also, if you're including slightly wet ingredients (like tomatoes) place them in between some of the cheese and try to avoid them touching the dough directly.

8. Fill a small bowl with water and dip your pastry brush (or any kind of brush really ... though we wouldn't recommend a hair brush) and gently moisten the edges of your circle. You don't want to drench the dough, just moisten it enough that, when the edges meet, you can seal the insides properly.

9. Gently bring one edge of the circle over the filling leaving a bit of the other edge still exposed. Using your fingers, press the moistened edges together. Then fold over the exposed edge. Crimp the newly formed edge like you would with a pie crust.

10. Cut a one inch slit on the top of your now formed calzone.

11. Place your calzones on a non-stick baking sheet (or line a baking sheet with non-stick aluminum foil) and cover. You can also individually wrap your calzones in aluminum foil.

12. Place your calzones in the oven. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, covered, then an additional five minutes uncovered ... if you like a browner calzone adjust the time you leave them covered. You'll know they're done when cheese starts bubbling out of the slit and the dough becomes, well, golden brown in places.

13. Serve with tomato sauce, ranch dressing, chipotle tabasco or any other thing you can think of ... and enjoy!