Italian Recipes: Calzone ( Turnover pizza)

Calzone

A Calzone normally meaning "stocking" or "trouser" is a Turn over commonly mistaken as a folded pizza. It is 

shaped like a half-moon and made of salted bread dough. The Calzone is folded over and filled with ingredients common to pizza. The typical Calzone is stuffed with Tomato, mozzarella cheese and sauce, and may include other ingredients that are normally associated with pizza toppings.

I am going to show you how to prepare an authentic Calzone, starting with making the dough and then I will mention many different toppings you can try or experiment with. You can always give your own twist to you Calzone by combining different ingredients for your filling.

Serves: Makes 4 calzone pizzas

Ingredients:

Dough:2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
1 teaspoon rapid-rise yeast
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 to 3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oilEgg wash:  1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Step 1:

In a food processor, combine the flour, yeast, salt and sugar.
With the machine running, add 1/2 cup of water and the olive oil through the feed tube.
Process for 15-20 seconds, adding more water a little at a time, until the mixture forms into a ball.
If the dough seems to sticky, add a little more flour.
Transfer the dough to a lightly-floured surface.
Knead a few times just to get a smooth dough.


Step 2:

Grease a bowl with a little olive oil and transfer the dough to the bowl.  
Turn once to coat all sides with the oil.
Cover the bowl and let rise until double in volume, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.


Step 3:

Punch down the dough and place it in a lightly-floured surface.Divide the dough into 4 pieces.  
Cover and allow to rest for 20 minutes.

Step 4:

Preheat the oven.
To make 4 calzones, divide the dough into 4 equal pieces
Roll out one round at a time to a 10-inch circle.

Always starting with your tomato sauce base, smear this over your pizza so all is covered but make sure you leave room around the entire edge of around 1cm where the sauce does not cover the dough. Spread nice and thin, to much sauce will come pouring out your Calzone if you use to much tomato sauce.

Now top it on one half with your chosen ingredients mentioned below.

Step 5:

Fold the top half of the dough over the filling to form a half-moon.
Seal the edges well by squeezing them together with your fingers.
To insure a tight seal, fold the edge of the dough back toward the filling, pressing to seal.
Transfer the calzone to an oiled baking sheet and brush with the egg wash.
Repeat procedure for the remaining pieces of dough and filling.
Bake the calzones for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.
Serve with marinara sauce or traditional tomato sauce.

You can also make a calzone by frying it in a pan, this is how i do it:

You do not need to brush the tops with egg wash when making deep-fried calzones.
Add one or two (depending on the size of your fryer) of the calzones to the hot oil.
Do not crowd all four calzones in the oil at once or they will not cook through properly.
Fry the calzones for 6 to 8 minutes until golden brown.
Allow to rest a few minutes before serving with sauce.

Tips for fillings:

Cheese:- 3 cups ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- Salt and pepper

Combine filling ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.Sausage Filling:  

Add cubes of pre-cooked sausage or saute loose sausage in a skillet until well browned.
Drain sauteed sausage on paper towels to remove some of the grease before adding it to the filling.Sausage and Broccoli Rabe: 

 Saute some chopped broccoli rabe in a little olive oil with minced garlic and red 
pepper flakes and add it to the sausage filling mixture.Ham and Salami :  

Add cubes or chopped slices of deli ham and salamiProsciutto and Provolone:  

Add cubes or chopped slices of prosciutto and provolone cheeseCaprese-Style:  

Add cubes of a fresh seeded tomato along with some torn fresh basil leaves to the cheese filling.Vegetable Filling:

  Vegetables must be blanched or pre-cooked to al dente before adding them to the filling.
Try blanched broccoli, sauteed mushrooms, or sauteed cubes of eggplant.  For added flavor, saute your vegetables 
in olive oil with a little chopped onion and garlic.  For a great spinach filling, use thawed and well dried frozen 
chopped spinach added to the cheese filling.  

Now in Italy they would say                       " buon appetito""

                                                      which means " Enjoy your meal"

Where can we find Italy in the world?

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