Calzone

One of the high points in making pizza — besides the pizza itself — is using some of the dough to make Calzone. Calzone in Italian means "stocking" or "trousers," named for its shape, which resembles a pocket. And what a great pocket it is — you can use your imagination to fill it with your favorite ingredients. The traditional Italian version is stuffed with salami, prosciutto, ricotta, parmesan or pecorino, with or without tomato sauce. Egg is optional too.  

History first

The original calzone (or calzoni) were made from bread dough — some still are today, especially in Italy. In the United States it's made from pizza dough, folded and stuffed. The calzone as we know it today originated in Naples around the 18th century, first introduced as street food — "walk-around pizza." It's easy to fold pizza dough and eat it on the go, since Italian pizza is much smaller than American pizza. Pizza is less portable, and the range of fillings you can use is nowhere near as diverse as with calzone. Thanks to its pocket shape, it can hold ingredients that regular pizza toppings can't support — like various kinds of meats and a generous amount of cheese.

Calzone Preparation

I'm using thin crust pizza dough — I prefer it crispy rather than heavy like a bread dough. The basic idea is to open a pizza dough just as you would for a regular pizza, fill it with your favorite sauce, vegetables, meat, and cheese, then fold it into a half-moon shape and press the edges to make sure it's sealed. I made 2 different fillings: a mushroom parmesan bolognese sauce, and a mushroom, leeks, garlic, white wine, and mozzarella. Both were great. That said, you can use whatever you have in the fridge — these pockets can hold a big amount of filling, and I would know, since I usually push the calzone to its limit.

Baking time

Baking is pretty similar to pizza. I don't use any egg wash like some recipes do — I want the hard crust of the pizza dough to shine, not the brownish color of egg wash, which can be deceiving since it hits golden brown way before the dough is actually ready. So bake it at the highest oven temperature — usually 250°C/500°F for home kitchens — use all the tips for great pizza baking I talked about in the past, and you'll have a great calzone.