Calzones

Whenever we make calzones I always want to pronouce it like Giada does: cal-zone-ase...but I always feel so stupid doing so - it just sounds too weird to me, even though I was raised saying many Italian foods like Giada does as my dad is 100% Italian. Does saying it like and Italian mean that the food will taste better? It sure sounds like it would, doesn't it? But no matter how I end up pronoucing calzones, it really makes no difference because they always turn out wonderfully. Really, how could you go wrong with two types of cheese baked in a pizza dough pocket? You can't.

I've made the leap into dough making this year and as the year comes to a close, I can honestly say that I'm proud of myself for doing so. I had always been so afraid to make dough for whatever the reason, but as it turns out, it's really so much easier than I had first anticipated. My most recent dough endeavor was for calzones, hence the purpose of the first paragraph - and you thought that I was just babbling. :)

The dough itself came out beautifully. I used a well-passed-around recipe on my cooking board: Jay's Signature Pizza Crust and wasn't at all let down. The dough was easy to make, easy to work with, and tasted wonderful. I'll double the recipe next time and freeze a good portion of it.

After you've got a good dough, the calzones pretty much come together by themselves. These were basic: layer ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, some sprinkled oregano, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and of course, Parmesan cheese (although I think I used Pecorino-Romano this time) on half of a rolled out piece of dough, then fold over, pinch the edges and cut a few slits in the top to allow for steam escapage (is that even a word??). Bake on a hot pizza stone or baking sheet for 15 minutes at 475 degrees F. Seriously, these couldn't be easier.

Active prep time: 15 minutes

Inactive prep time: 1 hour

Cook time: 15 minutes

One calzone (half of dough recipe) serves: 2