Friday, September 12, 2008

Pizza... folded over.

Friday... Pizza! Friday... Pizza! That's all I heard when Jeff came home from work late this afternoon (and typing that out reminds me of Little Caesars - I used to love their pizza growing up!). So, I guess someone has certainly gotten comfortable with this pizza Friday idea!

This time, I went the individual pizza route and prepare these Double-Cheese and Prosciutto Calzones. Because of the amount of filling I needed to stuff inside, I decided to throw together the one-pound version of our our favorite whole-wheat dough. What? You have not tried it yet? What are you waiting for - it is dead easy and takes no time to make since all the work is done in a food processor. Although, if you feel the "knead" for a work out, you could certainly prepare the dough by hand.

I divided the dough into quarters and once stretched out into small circles, I piled on a mound of ingredients consisting of mozzarella, soft goat cheese, chopped prosciutto, a big ol' clove worth of minced garlic, flakes of crushed red pepper and a smattering of tiny fresh thyme leaves. Be sure to leave the edges of the dough clean so they can stick together when you close the calzone. If you want to make them fancy, crimp the edges by turning the dough onto itself or just take the easy route, as you can see that we did, and press down with a handy fork.

They will puff up and turn golden when the are baked enough - as soon as you slide them out of the oven, lightly brush each hot calzone with extra-virgin olive oil to give them a shiny coat and a bit of flavor. Despite my quick effort to seal them, apparently I didn't press down hard enough on this lone calzone, so a little of the cheesy molten filling began to ooze out. I was sold as soon as the more mild mozzarella, tied with the tangy goat cheese and salty prosciutto, passed my lips and hit my anxious tongue. The thyme was pungent enough to stand up the stronger flavors, but not so much that it overpowered the cheese's - its freshness was tantalizing, especially when combined with the garlic. If you want to make this a little easier or to serve it family-style, you could make one giant calzone and simply slice it up when serving.

5 comments:

  1. Dang that looks good. A few years ago I used to always make pizza on Fridays. I've missed it and now keep seeing all your creations lately and want to start doing it again (especially after opening a can of soup for dinner tonight!)
    I am so excited to try your whole wheat dough (I try not to use white flour except in all my baking that I give away). Just might have to have Saturday pizza night this week! I'm definitely going to try your dough. My kids are boring and only like pepperoni or sausage, but I love making a fun different pizza for my husband and I.

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  2. I used your pizza dough recipe all the time. My family loves it. I love reading about all the topping combinations you use - FABULOUS!

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  3. Joe, I love your pizza dough. And what a wonderful blog!

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  4. Your post made me giggle because I did just try this dough a week or so ago. And I'm making it again tonight. It was so easy to work with - major bonus points in my book if you don't have to fight to shape the dough.

    I often hear about Friday night pizza nights and I was tempted to start one here too but I think I'll wait until after football season so my marching band son won't be left out. :)

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  5. Katrina - Try to fit in a pizza or two soon!

    Teri - Fantastic!

    Mary - Thank you!

    Alysha - I just love how easy it is to work with and we can stretch it quite thin without it ripping!

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