Ricotta Artichoke Calzone

Up until I learned how to make my own pizza dough and bufffalo wings at home, pizza delivery from Papa John’s or Pizza Hut has been a favorite recourse of mine for days when I am too lazy to cook. Now, knowing I can reproduce the same meal at home for a small fraction of the cost, I can no longer willingly close my eyes to the $30 price tag of a large pizza, an order of chicken wings and a liter of Diet Coke from these pizza chains. Usually on my free weekends, I’ll knead at least two 16-oz pizzas and bake a tray of chicken wings to keep in the freezer, ready to pop in the oven for a quick meal. This Saturday, however, my pizza doughs were already rolled and waiting to be topped when I realized upon opening my pantry that I am all out of the cardboard boxes I use to store my prepared pizzas. So, what does one do with 32 ounces of pizza dough other than pizzas? One does calzones.

Calzones are Italian turnovers that are popular as street food fare because of their ease “to eat while standing or walking”. Terrific on-the-go, they are also a welcomed item in brown-bag lunches, picnics and simple get-togethers. I find calzones keep well indefinitely in the freezer already baked or not. Quick tip: as the battle here is making the pizza dough, purchase prepared dough from your local market and have three-fourths of the work done with.

 

Makes 8 Servings

Ingredients

16 oz prepared pizza dough
1 cup marinated artichokes, coarsely chopped
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 parmesan cheese, shredded
1 cup sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1/4 cup roasted red peppers, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
2 to 3 tbsps olive oil
kosher salt
freshly-ground pepper

Procedure

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a cookie sheet with olive oil.

Divide pizza dough into four portions, around 4 oz each. Stretch each portion into a 8-inch circle and place on the oiled cookie sheet.

Combine ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese and 1/2 tbsp olive oil until of spreadable consistency. Spread mixture over each pizza dough, then coat with tomato sauce.

In a saute pan, heat 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil. Add sausage, mushrooms, onions and garlic. Cook until sausage is browned and vegetables are limp. Regularly crumble sausage into small pieces with back of spoon. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in artichokes and roasted red peppers, and continue to cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes. Spoon over bottom half of each pizza dough.

Fold top half of pizza dough over bottom half and crimp edges to seal filling. Repeat on each dough. Brush each with remaining olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake until golden brown, around 20 minutes. Cut each calzone into two and serve warm.

Pizza Dough

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water in a large bowl. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.
Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.

Onto a clean, well floured surface, turn out dough and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth.

Let the dough rise until double; around 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball.
Let the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Roll with a rolling pin or knead with hands into a flattened disk.

 

Recipes From the Oven in The CookMobile Archive:

Langues de Chat (Cat’s Tongues)

 

 

 

Chicken Crescents

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