Roasted Veggie Calzone

When I see a calzone, I imagine it as a mega-sized empanada. Haha... But I do love the stuff. It's a pizza on the go. Which by the way, I finally made my own pizza dough. Woohoo! I made a batch enough for 4 pizzas. Used one and kept the other three dough balls in the freezer for future pizzas or whatever I decide to make with them.

I rummaged through my little recipe box for a dough recipe, I knew I had one, I just never used it until now. I don't remember where I had gotten it as I had written it out on a small piece of index card. Since I've been making my own bread, I'm slowly becoming a little more confident in trying to make things I normally wouldn't.

Anyway...For the calzone, you can use premade dough from the store, if you don't have time to make your own. I roasted some eggplant and zucchini that I had gotten from the farmer's market. Sliced up some fresh tomato and had some grated parmesan. There were a couple sandwich slices of swiss cheese, so I added that on top of the crust a few minutes before taking it out of the oven. That part is completely optional.

Mmmm...Layered veggie goodness!!!

This will serve 2-3.



Pizza Dough
4 C All Purpose Flour
2 c warm water (110 to 120˚F)
1 packet or 2 tsp dry active yeast
2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (plus extra for the bowl and basting)
1 tsp sugar

Combine the water, yeast and sugar together. Let is sit for roughly 5 min..

In a large bowl combine the flour, salt and oil. Blend well. Add in the yeast mixture and mix all together until it forms into a dough ball.

On a well-floured surface. Knead the dough for a couple of minutes until almost elastic in feel. Place the dough into another bowl lubed with olive oil. Cover with platic wrap and a towel and keep away from light until the dough rises and doubles in size. Roughly 1-2 hours.

When the dough doubles, lightly punch down the dough to release the gases inside.

Layout the dough on a well-floured surface and divide into 4 ball. Wrap unused dough in plastic wrap and keep in the freezer until ready to use.



Roasted Veggie Calzone

1 pizza dough - homemade or store bought
1 medium eggplant - sliced
2 small zucchini - sliced
1/2 medium onion - sliced into half moons
1 tomato - sliced
tomato sauce
olive oil
salt
pepper
grated parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 400˚F

Toss the eggplant and zucchini in olive oil and season with some salt and pepper. Lay the veggies out on a baking sheet and roast for 20-25 min. Give them a toss half way though.

On a well-floured surface, roll out your dough into a circle using a rolling pin or by gently stretching it with your hands. Then gently place it on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Layer the tomato sauce in a full circle. Be sure to leave at least an inch of dough untouched. Then layer the eggplant, zucchini and tomato slices on on half of the dough. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese over them. you may also put some cheese in between layers.

Fold over the other half of the dough and crimp the edges to seal. Brush the top of the dough with some olive oil and bake for roughly 15-20 min until the dough is golden brown.

Cream Cheese Mushroom Puffs

So here's what I did with the other half of those white sliced mushrooms I had bought a few days ago. I had another roll of the Pillsbury dough sheet in the fridge, so I figured why not a little party appetizers for a small group. You can also use puff pastry, if you can't find the flaky dough sheet. Some markets usually don't stock all products of a certain brand, which can be a headache sometimes.

I tried sealing them up like little dim sum dumplings, but the dough was being uncooperative with me that day. Some opened up during baking, some remained sealed. But I must admit, I liked how they turned out.

I may enter this into the Pillsbury bake-off competition along with the pesto pockets I'm working on. (Pesto Pockets) I've got a week to decide. This will roughly make 8-10 Depending how many squares you want to make. It's definitely flexible.


Cream Cheese Mushroom puffs.

2 oz cream cheese (around 4 Tbsp)
12 small white mushroom - diced (or which ever mushroom you prefer)
1/2 medium onion - diced
1 can Pillsbury Creations dough sheet or 1 sheet puff pastry
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp Butter or margarine


In a saute pan, heat oil and melt butter on a medium to low. Sweat onions when butter is nearly melted. You'd want them to have a nice soft and floppy texture to them. Then add the mushrooms. Season with a little salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 5min.

Place the mushrooms in a small bowl and add in the cream cheese. Mix to combine well. It'll make it into creamy mix.

Cut the dough sheet in 8 to 10 square pieces. Place a teaspoon of the mushroom mix at the center of each square. Bring the corners together and crimp the edges to seal.

Place the puffs on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-15min or until crust is golden brown.


Eat one, you'll have to have another.