Calzones

Tonight for supper I made calzones, which are also known as pizza pockets and panzerottis. Basically you make pizza dough, divide it into individual servings, top half of it with pizza toppings, fold it over, enclose, and bake. I got the recipe from Betty Crocker's "Low-Fat Low-Cholesterol" cookbook. They were quite good, nice and crisp. I made two batches: one with all white flour and one with half whole wheat flour. They both turned out well. Here is the original recipe.

Whole Wheat Calzones
1 package regular or quick active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water (105◦ to 115◦)
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
1 3/4 to 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 egg white, beaten

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Stir in sugar, salt, oil and 1 cup of the flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead about 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Cover with bowl and let rest 5 minutes.

Heat oven to 375◦F. Spray cookies sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Pat each piece into 8-inch circle on lightly floured surface, turning dough over occasionally to coat with flour. Top half of each circle with toppings. Fold dough over toppings; fold up and pinch securely to seal. Place on cookie sheet. Brush with egg white. Bake about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Toppings for calzones can be just about anything, not just traditional pizza toppings. Calzones are known to be made with more vegetable fillings too, such as ratatouille or other vegetable blends. The key to successful calzones is not to over fill them: place the filling only over half of the circle, leaving a 1/2 inch border all around. Don't pile toppings on too high either. One of the reasons vegetable and stir-fry mixtures are often used in calzones is because they don't use sauces, which leak out and burn easily if piled on too high.

Crocker, Betty. "Whole Wheat Calzones." Recipe. Low-Fat Low-Cholesterol, New York: MacMillan, 1991. 120.