Super Duper Homemade Calzones

So  yesterday was the Superbowl and my hubby had a hankering for calzones. Not any old calzones but the ones  he remembered from his days working at a pizza joint back in New York. He gave me his basic specs and found a recipe he thought would be ideal and then we went ingredient shopping. No sir, these were definitely not your garden variety calzones! I made a double recipe of dough as shown in the recipe and went to town preparing them. They ended up being HUGE! Like he said, now "thatza a calzone!" In retrospect I would prefer a commercial or good homemade pizza dough, since there is a lot of bread in each serving, but it sure was good! He ate one, I ate half and we have 2 in the freezer for another time plus the other half of mine for his dinner tonight. Serve with warm marina sauce drizzled on top, or in a small bowl for dipping.

Calzones

<adapted from this recipe>

Ingredients (for 2 huge calzones)

• *1 (.25 ounce) package active dry  yeast
• *1 cup warm water
• *1 tablespoon olive oil
• *1 teaspoon white sugar
• *1 teaspoon salt
• *2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour,            divided
• *1 teaspoon olive oil
• *1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• *1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella 
• *Parmesan cheese
• *1/2 c Canadian bacon
• *1/2 cup diced pepperoni
• *1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
• *1 tbsp basil or Italian seasoning 
• *1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water and 1 tsp olive oil (for the "wash")

Directions

1. Dough: THE RECIPE MAY BE DOUBLED TO MAKE 4 HUGE CALZONES. 
2. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. When soft pour into medium bowl (use large bowl if doubling recipe) and add the oil, sugar and salt. Mix in 1 cup of the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the rest of the flour, until dough is smooth and workable. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, or until it is elastic. Place dough in a bowl containing 1 teaspoon olive oil, then flip the dough, cover and let rise for 40 minutes, or until almost doubled.

1. Filling: DOUBLE IF MAKING A DOUBLE RECIPE OF DOUGH
2. 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
3. 2. While dough is rising, combine the pepperoni, Canadian bacon, chopped peppers and basil leaves or Italian seasoning in a small bowl. Toss well, cover bowl and refrigerate to chill.
4. 3. When dough is ready, punch it down and separate it into 2 equal balls (4 balls if you have doubled the recipe). 
5. 4. Roll each out into a THIN circle on a lightly floured surface, one at a time. 
6. 5. A so-called authentic calzone recipe said to do it this way, so I did: Fill each of the two circles with half the mozzarella on the lower half of the circle topped with filling (refrigerated pepperoni, Canadian bacon, pepper and spices), then scooped ricotta cheese, salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Fold the top over the fillings and secure edges by rolling/folding up,  pinching and pressing with a fork. Brush the top of each calzone with beaten egg mixed with oil and a bit of water and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet (I used a perforated pizza pan for 2 of the ones I made from the double recipe placed on the middle rack and a cookie sheet topped with silicone sheets on the second-from-lowest oven rack). REPEAT WITH REMAINING DOUGH (BALL). As you can see, these are humongous. 

1. 6.Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 30 minutes (as above) until cooked through and a beautiful golden brown. Serve hot with marinara or a favorite spaghetti sauce heated for dipping or drizzling.

Please note: I saved some money by using a bag of Italian Mixed Shredded Cheese containing Parm, Mozza, Asagio and Romano. That saved me time, too, by letting  me spread this on the bottom of each circle without having the expense of Parm to sprinkle on top and gave a little extra flavor. I found the  mix of egg/water/olive oil gave it a beautiful sheen and color.

Twisted Inside-Out Stuffed Peppers

I seem to be on an inside-out quest these days, with inside-out cabbage rolls and now this delicious inside-out stuffed pepper dish. Since I only had 2 good-sized peppers - a yellow and an orange pepper -  on  hand but wanted to make an economical, diet-friendly dish that would last several meals, this just seemed to make sense. The flavors of the ingredients were simmered to delectable perfection and the dish turned out delicious. I do love 'one pan dinners!' So here is my secret to the "perfect," easier to prepare 

[Yes, these are the left-overs since we devoured dinner before I could take photos - oops]

Twisted Inside-Out Stuffed Peppers.

                                            

 Ingredients

• One lb lean ground beef - 80% lean or so
• 3/4 sweet onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 yellow and one orange bell pepper (or green or red), coarsely chopped
• Combined 2 tsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp garlic salt, pinch of pepper and dash of salt
• 1 24-oz jar of your favorite spaghetti or marinara sauce
• 1/4 c. water
• 3 c. cooked white or brown rice 
• 1 c combo of sharp cheddar and mozzarella cheese (or whatever you have at home)

Preparation

1. Cook rice as directed on package. Remove from heat and cover.
2. Place 1 tbsp oil into large skillet or saucepan. Add ground beef, onion and seasoning. Cook over med-high heat, stirring often, until ground beef is brown - about 10 minutes. Add peppers to the mixture and stir for another 10 minutes or so, until the beef is crumbly and onions are translucent. With lean beef you shouldn't have to drain off any fat.
3. Pour jar of sauce over the top, place water in jar and swirl, pouring into pan to use up the last of the sauce in the jar. Stir, then reduce heat to let mixture simmer after  it reaches a gentle boil. Simmer, stirring often, for approximately 10 minutes to blend flavors and heat sauce.
4. Add rice and stir thoroughly, simmering for an additional 5 minutes until thoroughly heated and all ingredients are combined.
5. Grate cheese and sprinkle on top while the mixture is simmering, then turn off heat. The cheese will melt into gooey deliciousness on top.
6. Let sit five minutes, then serve in bowls or plates with sides. Refrigerate left-overs as soon as slightly cooled.
7. This will serve 6-8 hungry people and may be accompanied with a green salad, breadsticks or rolls if desired.

This is what it looks like when hungry critters smell the concoction cooking :) I won't post a photo of what we looked like it eating it. It might be embarrassing.

 

Super Humongous Pizza

We have a pizza pan that I absolutely love. It's about 16 inches in circumference and has holes, or perforations, in the bottom to allow for a evenly baked crust. Next to a pizza stone, it's my 'go-to' pizza necessity!

So, we had a Pay Per View event to watch, which called for us to have pizza, of course. Being short of budget but high on imagination, I crafted this combo Turkey Pepperoni/Hawaiian Pizza and wow, was it filling. The maple bacon needed to be precooked to add to the flavor and take away some of the stringiness but it was worth the effort! I took some shortcuts but like every artistic endeavor, it still took quite a bit of preparation time. I could have made my own crust, but after all the chopping and fussing, I got lazy.

Please note, I had forgotten to sprinkle on the black olives so I did that over the pepperoni side after the fact. No one ever said I was perfekt!

World, meet

"SUPER HUMONGOUS PIZZA."

INGREDIENTS

• 2 packages of pizza crust mix (the kind you just add warm water to) or store-bought crust
• 1 bottle or can of pizza sauce (8 oz or so)
• turkey pepperoni - 1/2 pkg
• bell peppers - 1/2 red, 1/2 green, 1/2 orange or yellow, thinly sliced
• tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes cut in half)
• sweet onion - 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• Canadian or maple bacon (cut in chunks and precooked for 3 min in paper towel in microwave)
• 1/2  12-16 oz. can pineapple tidbits or chunks, drained. Cut chunks in half to use.
• 1 pkg grated/shredded mozzarella cheese 
• 1/2 pkg grated/shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 small can sliced black olives, drained
• 1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

PREPARATION

1. Cut up all ingredients as needed and prepare bacon. No need to precook Canadian bacon. Prepare pizza crust as directed on package (doubling the recipe if using the 2 pkgs). If you prefer, you can use a store-bought pizza crust or your own favorite recipe.
2. Grease a LARGE (16") pizza pan or two smaller pans. If using a smaller pan, use one package of pizza crust mix, the pepperoni, half the pizza sauce, half the peppers and half the onions and cheese to make a Pepperoni Pizza. Do the same with the remainder of the ingredients for the Hawaiian Pizza. If using the large pan, make this a half-and-half pizza. 
3. For a half-and-half pizza, spread the crust in the greased pan. Spread the sauce over the prepared dough. Arrange pepperoni over half the pan and bacon over the other half.  Sprinkle the tomatoes over the pepperoni. Sprinkle the pineapple over the bacon. Cover the entire pizza with the cut-up peppers, onions and black olives. Spread shredded or grated cheese over the entire pizza to cover. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top. 
4. Bake in 450 degree oven for approximately 25 to 30 minutes, until cheese is golden on the edges and completely melted. Let rest for 5 minutes, then cut into generous slices using a pizza cutter. 
5. Manga.

 

Baked Ziti

The Little Cook's Baked Ziti

I have found dozens of recipes for baked ziti, but for some reason I keep trying new ones. As you can tell by the photo, this latest one turned out pretty dang good! So here is The Little Cook's latest variation on the theme of Baked Ziti.

Ingredients

• 1 lb of your favorite type of pasta, precooked as to package directions
• 1 tub of ricotta cheese
• 1 large (20 oz?) jar of your favorite spaghetti or marinara sauce - I used home-made
• 1c water
• 1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 pkg (about 6 - 8 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 pkg (about 6 - 8 oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 small jar/can of black olives, cut in half

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a 9x13 inch lasagna or cake pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
3. Place cooked pasta in a large mixing bowl. Add ricotta cheese, 3/4 of the jar of spaghetti/marinara sauce and water. Mix in parsley and salt (about 1 tsp). Fold mixture until blended.
4. Cover the bottom of the baking pan with the remainder of sauce. Spoon pasta mixture on top, evenly spreading with a spatula. Sprinkle cheeses evenly on top to cover. Sprinkle olives over the cheese.
5. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the top is slightly golden in color.
6. Let set for about 10 minutes, for the pasta to settle, before enjoying. Serve with a green salad, additional olives and some good fresh bread. Mangia!

Humdinger Pizza

And where did this pizza get its name, you might ask? From Mike, of course, when he saw me prepare it to place in the oven! What makes it humdinger, inquiring minds want to know? It's positively loaded with flavor and everything I could find that would work in the fridge, that's why! And it's made on a large pizza pan (over a foot in diameter). AND it has a secret sauce <shhhh>...

Delectable, delicious, humdinger pizza

Humdinger Pizza (aka Sausage/Pepperoni/Pepper/Onion Pizza)

Ingredients:

Ingredients for Humdinger Pizza. The yellow pepper just looked pretty there.

• 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 green pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/4 - 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 pkg pepperoni
• 1/4 lb ground Italian sausage
• Parmesan cheese (approx 1/2 to 1 c)
• shredded Cheddar cheese (1/2 pkg)
• Italian Seasoning (approx 2 tsp) and a sprinkling of parsley
• sea salt (2 grates, or approx. 1/2 tsp)
• pizza sauce, commercial (about 1/2 c)
• mild salsa (I used home-made), approximately 1 c.
• home-made yeast-less pizza dough (recipe follows)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Grease pizza pan with cooking spray.
3. Prepare pizza dough from scratch or use commercial shell. 
4. Thinly slice peppers and onion, as directed.
5. Roll or place pizza dough on pan.  I just rolled mine with a rolling pin, right on top of the greased pan! 
6. Spread with a mixture of the pizza sauce and salsa.
7. Sprinkle Italian seasoning and parsley on sauce. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Pile on the ingredients: peppers, onions, sausage (broken into small bits), and cover with cheddar cheese.
8. Bake in oven for approximately 20-30 minutes, or until cheese is melted, crust is golden and it looks baked. 
9. Manga!

Golden fragrant hot huge Humdinger Pizza

Oh, yes. The pizza crust. Excellent crust from Easy Pizza Crusts.com.

No Yeast Pizza Crust Recipe

This is a good recipe if you don't have any yeast or don't have time for dough to rise.

2 cups all purpose flour 
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup water
1 tbsp cooking oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare pizza pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray. Combine dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Add liquids and stir to incorporate dry ingredients. Knead dough by hand 6-8 times on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough thinly. Place rolled dough onto prepared pizza pan, add favorite sauce and toppings. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes, depending on crust thickness or according to recipe.

Quick 'n Easy Lasagna Rolls

Here is another "Mike-approved" recipe that doesn't take very long to prepare, but looks impressive on a plate. It's a great way to use up those extra lasagna noodles that always seem to be rattling around in the box. An adaptation of a Weight Watcher's recipe.

Quick 'n Easy Lasagna Rolls

Quick 'n Easy Lasagna Rolls

Ingredients

• 6 to 8 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained 
• 1/2 carton (approx. 8 oz) ricotta cheese
• 1-2 tbsp parsley
• 1-2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
• salt (2 grates of sea salt or 1/2 tsp iodized salt)
• 1 small jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
• approx. 1/4 c water
• parsley (for sprinkling on top)

Preparation

1. Cook lasagna noodles until almost done (approx 6 minutes) in 6-8 c boiling water and 1 tsp oil. Drain in colander under cold running water.
2. Mix ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and Italian seasoning in medium bowl.
3. Lay out the strips of lasagna noodles and spread cheese mixture on, just as though you were buttering bread. Roll each noodle from the narrow end, being careful not to squeeze out the filling. Place seam side down, in a prepared loaf pan or casserole dish, sprayed with cooking spray.
4. Repeat with all the noodles, and spread with the spaghetti sauce. Pour water into the empty jar, shake and pour carefully over the top of the saucy noodles. Sprinkle parsley on top.
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 -30 minutes, until thoroughly heated.
6. Serve with green salad. 

Ta-da! Serving complete

Mike's Italian Sausage with Peppers & Onions

My husband's favorite dish from our carnival and Italian street fair days. Quick, easy and just a bit like a feast in a bun. You can use either whole sausages, or, to be more economical, you can cut the sausages into chunks before frying.


Italian Sausage with Peppers & Onions (serves 4)

Ingredients

• 4 Italian sausage links (sweet, hot, or a combination)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 green, 1 red, 1 yellow and 1 orange bell peppers, sliced into 2-3 inch strips
• 4 garlic cloves, slivered or 2 tsp of garlic powder (salt)
• 1 small (15 oz) can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp dried oregano
• 1/2 c red wine (if desired)
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• Salt to taste

Preparation

1. Poke sausages a few times with a fork. Heat olive oil on medium heat in a large frying pan with a lid (prevents splatter and evens the heat); add sausages and cook until browned, turning occasionally to even the color. Remove from heat.
2. On medium-high heat, stir-fry the peppers and onion, sprinkling with salt and garlic once they have softened and browned slightly.
3. If you desire, add wine, and stir, scraping bottom of the pan to get up all the browned bits. Let reduce to half.
4. Add the tomatoes, oregano and pepper flakes (if a spicier flavor is desired), stirring to mix. Add sausages back in and simmer, then reduce to low to cook peppers and sausages thoroughly (15-20 minutes). Stir occasionally to prevent burning.

This dish keeps in the fridge for several days. Serve with hoagie buns, Italian rolls or pasta.

Lasagna with Meat Sauce

Here's a family-favorite recipe that we've enjoyed since before my children were born (many moons ago). It's a bit time consuming, but definitely appropriate for novice cooks and those familiar with finding their way around the kitchen. It actually looks a lot tougher than it really is! Preparation takes the most time, so I am dividing it into individual sections to make it easier. And, as a bonus, I have included a second use for all that delicious meat sauce! Enjoy, or should I say "Buon appetito!" 


LASAGNA WITH MEAT SAUCE (enough for 2 - 13x9 pans)

1.THE SAUCE
This sauce is thick, delicious and attractive. The recipe will make enough so you can freeze half the sauce in covered dishes/freezer-safe plastic ware to use with spaghetti for additional meals.
Ingredients:

• 1-2 tbsp olive or canola oil
• 1 large yellow or sweet onion, chopped
• 1-2 green peppers, finely chopped
• 3 lbs ground beef (you can use ground turkey or chicken, but we prefer beef)
• 2 large cans (29 oz) tomato sauce
• 2 cans (14-16 oz) diced tomatoes, Italian style
• 1 1/2 c water
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 1/4 c sugar
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2 tbsp parsley
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped, or 2 tsp garlic powder
• (you can use 3 tsp Italian seasoning if you don't have the above)
• 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper (approx.)

Cut up the onion and pepper. Place the oil in a heavy large sauce pan or frying pan. Add onions and peppers and heat until onions begin to turn clear (translucent) - about 5 minutes. If you use garlic cloves, add them now. Crumble up ground beef into the pan and stir and cook until no pink shows and parts of the beef begin to turn crispy brown. Remove from heat, drain, then stir in the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly. Return to the heat and cook on medium for about 10 minutes, or until boiling, then reduce heat to low/medium and simmer for 3/4 to 1 hour, stirring frequently, until thick. To prevent splatters, use a splatter shield. You may wish to add an additional 1/2 c water during cooking. NOTE: DIVIDE THE SAUCE INTO TWO PARTS AND LET COOL SLIGHTLY. After 15 minutes in the fridge, freeze one half the sauce in freezer-proof storage containers (I divided it the one part into 2 containers, for 2 future meals for us) and use with spaghetti at another time. Budget-friendly, time-saving idea. The remaining half of the sauce will be used for the lasagna.


2. THE CHEESE MIXTURE
This is the other layer in the dish. Rich, creamy and delicious, it adds body to the lasagna. We prefer cottage cheese to ricotta cheese.
Ingredients

• 2-3 lbs cottage cheese (2 or 3 regular tubs or one giant one)
• 1 pkg shredded Parmesan cheese (or 3/4 c grated parmesan cheese in a jar)
• 1/4 to 1/2 c parsley flakes
• 2 pkgs mozzarella cheese (reserved for assembly)

Some people like more cheese in their lasagna, others less. Use what you can afford and what you prefer. We like more filling, so that's why I suggested 3 lbs cottage cheese. Mix cottage cheese, Parmesan and parsley flakes together and place in fridge. Easy.


3. ASSEMBLY
Cook 1 package of lasagna noodles according to package directions, adding a tsp of oil and a dash of salt to the water to stop sticking. When done, drain in colander and run cool water over the noodles. Reminder: this recipe makes 2 pans of lasagna! I used aluminum foil pans the last time.

1. Place 3 lasagna noodles lengthwise on the bottom of each pan, one beside the other. Cover with sauce (about 2 ladles-ful for each layer) using the remaining half of the prepared sauce.  
2. Cover with approximately 1 ladle (4-6 heaping tbsp) of the cottage cheese mixture for each pan. Place dollops more or less evenly spaced over the sauce.
3. Top with approximately 1/3 package of mozzarella cheese for each pan of lasagna. That will give you 3 layers.
4. Repeat the steps (1-3) above
5. For the last layer, place lasagna noodles on top. Put remainder of sauce on the top layer, top with any remaining cottage cheese mixture and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. You can sprinkle on a bit of grated Parmesan cheese if you like.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 3/4 to 1 hour, depending on your oven. You will need to place a cookie sheet under aluminum foil pans, and you may wish to catch any drips with a drip pan. Cover for first 15 minutes with aluminum foil, if you prefer it less crispy. Then remove and continue cooking for at least an additional 30 to 45 minutes. When the lasagna is golden and the cheese is bubbly, it's done.
7. Remove, let cool slightly (10 minutes) to set, and then cut into wedges and serve. Garlic bread or salad are perfect accompaniments to the meal.

Wow! Just look what you made!