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.

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.

 

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.

The Best Pizza Ever

"The Best Pizza Ever"

This was the name that my husband gave this pizza when I surprised him with it after we went shopping at Winco here in Henderson. It's not complex, uses easy store-bought ingredients, but for some reason, it turned out really good! I may just have to agree with him and dub it "The Best Pizza Ever." p.s. He is a real aficionado of pizzas, having been a delivery driver years ago and with this being his favorite food group :)

Ingredients

• Large 16" pizza crust (from 'scratch' or purchased)
• Jar of pizza sauce (we used the Winco tub of sauce - yum)
• Approximately 2 tsp of Italian Seasoning
• Grated Parmesan cheese, liberally sprinkled over the sauce (1/2 c?)
• Half a can of pineapple chunks (not tidbits)
• 6 slices of Canadian bacon
• Shredded cheese: about 1/2 pkg each of Mexican-Style, Mozzarella, and Cheddar  Cheese

Preparation:

1. Place your pizza crust on a large round pizza pan
2. Spread pizza sauce over the crust. Sprinkle with Italian Seasoning
3. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese
4. Arrange bacon over the saucy goodness and then plunk pineapple chunks all over
5. Top with much shredded cheese
6. Bake for approximately 20 minutes at 400 degrees, until the cheese is all melted and gooey and the edges of the crust are golden brown. 
7. Let cool approximately 5 minutes to set. Cut with pizza cutter.
8. Manga!