Greek Calzones

I love anything relating to bread, carbohydrates, or flour. Yum.  When my friend Lindsay sent me a link to this new twist on calzones (which are traditionally made with ricotta, mozzarella, and your choice of meat), I couldn't resist.

To "Greek" it up, they've replaced the mozz with feta cheese, which is quite a bit saltier, but don't fear if you're not into what some would consider weird cheeses. The feta is just to give a little saltiness to the otherwise creamy filling of ricotta and spinach. If you don't like feta, consider some of the alternatives I've listed below in my Comments section. 

I love the inclusion of spinach to this recipe, which is surprisingly nutritious but also adds a nice chewy texture that the cheese just can't cover on its own.

Recipe altered slightly from the version on Delish.com

Ingredients

• olive oil for baking sheet
• 1 batch pizza dough
• 10 oz. box frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and patted dry
• 15 oz. ricotta cheese
• 3-6 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
• pinch of dried dillweed
  

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine spinach, ricotta, dill, and as much feta as desired.
3. Split pizza dough into four even pieces. Flatten out into large circles.
4. Spoon equal amounts of cheese mixture onto one half of each circle. Fold dough over and press to close. 
5. Place each calzone on a raised-edge cookie sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden.
6. Let cool at least 5 minutes before eating. Serve with desired sides.

Comments

Even with patting the spinach dry, the filling was still quite wet, presumably from the ricotta. You may choose to cut a slit in the top of the calzone so the moisture can escape there; otherwise it might try to leak out the sides.

We ate our calzones plain but I think I would have enjoyed them more with a side of marinara sauce, even though it wouldn't fit with the Greek theme.

Next time I'd also like to try these with some different additions in the filling: perhaps chunks of artichoke hearts, chopped kalamata olives, or even diced sundried tomatoes. If you choose to add something salty, just reduce the feta a little bit to balance out the flavors.

Mushroom, Olive, and Caramelized Onion Pizza

Sometimes we go back to basics. It is cool out; I want the house to be warm with the smell of bread baking and cheese melting. I love using pizza as an excuse to clean out the fridge and finding new combinations of flavors. 

For a long time I didn't like olives at all; now I know that I prefer those that don't come out of a can. Kalamatas are known for their strong salty flavor and beautiful deep purple color. How can you resist purple?

This pizza features the salty and sweet combo. By caramelizing the onions, they cook down and marinate in their own sugars, browning and sweetening up perfectly. I added mushrooms but feel free to add whatever you've got handy; ham might taste good on this too.

Ingredients (makes 1 pizza)

• 1 batch pizza dough
• 1/2 onion, halved and sliced
• 1/2 package white mushrooms, sliced
• about a dozen kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
• cornmeal for sprinkling the pizza stone/pan
• pizza sauce or spicy marinara sauce
• 2-4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• parmesan cheese (freshly grated if possible)

Directions

1. Prepare pizza dough about 2 hours ahead of when you'd like the pizza to go in the oven. Be sure to allow it to rise in a draft free location. If your house is cold, warm the dough bowl.
2. Caramelize onions over medium-low heat. (Cover them, and add a splash of water if you need more steam. Other than that, leave them alone, stirring occasionally. You will see them become translucent, then eventually brown as they cook in their own sugars.)
3. About 15-20 minutes before baking time, preheat oven to 450 degrees. (If you're using a pizza stone, this should preheat too.)
4. When oven is preheated and onions are caramelized, remove pizza stone from oven. Sprinkle stone liberally with cornmeal to prevent sticking. Stretch dough onto stone. Top with sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, olives, and onions. Sprinkle with a generous amount of parmesan cheese.
5. Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until crust is golden.

Empanadas

Empanadas are Mexican food's answer to the calzone. I found this recipe in a Real Simple magazine a long time ago and have altered it to work best for us. It is one of Dan the Man's highly requested dinner items.

Most importantly, we only put the protein inside the dough (beans and cheese) and serve other flavors on the side (salsa and sour cream for dipping). This prevents the dough from getting soggy and breaking while it bakes.

You can also use any type of major protein you like - we've replaced the refried beans with smashed black beans and sometimes with leftover seasoned taco meat. Both are very tasty.



Ingredients

• 1 batch of Basic Pizza Dough, which has risen and been punched down
• 1/2 can of refried beans, or another protein of your choice
• about 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• salsa and/or sour cream, to serve on the side

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Use olive oil to grease a cookie sheet.
   
3. Cut pizza dough into 4 equal pieces.
4. With each piece, flatten out into a circle and spread a spoonful of refried beans on one half of the circle. Top with shredded cheese.
5. Fold over the empty half and seal around the edges to make a half circle or half moon shape.
6. If desired, put a pinch of shredded cheese on top of the empanadas.
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
8. Serve with salsa and/or sour cream.

Comments
These can stand alone as a meal - they certainly do for us. If you wanted to make five or six out of the same amount of dough, they could be served along with a vegetable or salad and still allow everyone to feel satisfied.

Mini Pizzas - and Happy New Year!

After receiving protests from the Bee Balm Gal for my lack of posting, I realized it has been three weeks since my last post! Please accept my apologies - and enjoy this fun recipe.

Now that we've survived the holiday Bermuda Triangle - Hanukkah, Christmas, and Festivus - it is time to make space in your fridge by using some of those leftovers. My recommendation: mini pizzas. Pizzas are always a good tool for using up the last of the green pepper / chicken / cherry tomatoes, and since so many people are in the mood for appetizers or other smaller-than-normal sized foods, I thought mini pizzas would fit in perfectly. We had them for New Year's Day lunch at my husband's family's house. This recipe makes about 5-6 small (8-inch or so) pizzas.

In this recipe I stretch and bake the crust for a couple minutes before dressing the pizzas - I found that it made the bottom crust sturdier and better able to withstand the saturation of sauce, cheese, and toppings.

Ingredients

• a batch of Basic Pizza Dough that has risen and been punched down
  
• flour (for dusting)
• 14 oz. jar of pizza sauce (we like the flavor of Ragu's pizza sauce)
• 3- or 4-cup bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
• desired toppings (we used pepperoni, diced chicken, and sliced cherry tomatoes)
• basil
• oregano

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
   
2. Cut dough into 5 or 6 equal sized pieces.
3. Stretch them into approximately 8-inch rounds and place on a floured cookie sheet or other flat pan.
4. Bake the dough, plain, for 2-3 minutes until just risen.
5. Remove from oven and dress with sauce, cheese, and desired toppings.
6. Sprinkle with basil and oregano.
7. Put back in oven for another 5-6 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Comments
These could be made even smaller if desired, but cut into quarters they make a nice snack for people to share. It can also be fun to let people decorate their own pizzas.

Basic Pizza Dough

I consider pizza dough a staple - it can be used for pizza crust, yes, but also calzones, stromboli, and even non-Italian foods. This entry is for my basic pizza dough, which I make using a KitchenAid mixer. I've included a separate set of instructions for making this dough by hand.

You can make this the night before a meal that might require it, and put the entire bowl, saran wrap and all, in the fridge. It will rise slowly and be ready for you come dinner time the next day.

This recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman's basic pizza dough recipe in How to Cook Everything.

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour (unbleached bread flour if you've got it)
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 2 tsp salt
• freshly ground pepper
• garlic powder and/or onion powder, if desired
  
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

Directions by Hand

1. Combine half the flour, the yeast, salt, pepper, and any other flavorings you might like (such as a few shakes of garlic powder and/or onion powder).
2. Add water and olive oil. Stir with wooden spoon until smooth.
3. Add remaining flour a bit at a time. Begin kneading by hand on floured surface when dough gets too tough to work with spoon.
4. Knead for about 10 minutes until smooth.
5. Drizzle a little olive oil in the bowl and roll the dough in the oil to coat. Place dough in bowl and cover tightly with saran wrap.
   
6. Let dough rise in warm, draft-free area until dough doubles in size, about 1-2 hours.
   

Directions Using Stand Mixer

1. Attach the bread hook to your stand mixer.
2. To mixing bowl, add half the flour (about 1 1/2 cups), the instant yeast, salt, pepper, and any other seasonings you might like (such as a few shakes of garlic powder and/or onion powder). Stir to mix ingredients.
3. Add water and olive oil and mix at Speed 2 for 30-60 seconds.
   
4. Add half of the rest of the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour while on Speed 2. Once incorporated, add in the remaining flour. Let mix at Speed 2 for another 2 minutes or so. Add a little more flour if the mixture is still very sticky.
5. Once dough sticks to bread hook in one large mass (2 minutes or more total), stop mixing.
6. Remove dough from bowl, drizzle a little olive oil down the side and roll the dough in oil to coat.
   
7. Leave dough in bowl and cover tightly with saran wrap.
8. Let dough rise in draft-free area until it doubles in size, about 1-2 hours.

Comments
You can use all-purpose flour if you don't have bread flour; however, the bread flour makes it a little chewy, rather than the flaky and somewhat dry consistency that you might get from all-purpose flour. Bread flour also browns nicely while cooking, making it attractive as well as tasty. If you intend to make your own dough, I certainly recommend making the investment in buying a nice bread flour, such as King Arthur.