Calzones

I've had this recipe starred from Annie's Eats since she posted it & decided to take advantage of some free time this afternoon to make them for dinner. Though I did change the filling, these were indeed wonderful...not TOO time consuming, with the hours of inactive prep time (dough rising).

I made two calzones, one for me & one for my husband. Mine had pesto, mushrooms, onions, garlic & mozzarella...Paul's had pizza sauce, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, garlic & mozzarella.

Here is the recipe for the dough, you can use this for delicious pizzas or calzones, whatever suits your fancy!

Pizza Dough
Recipe courtesy of Annie's Eats, originally from Baking Illustrated
Ingredients

• ½ cup warm water (about 110°)
• 1 envelope (2 ¼ tsp.) instant yeast
• 1 ¼ cups water, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 ½ tsp. salt
• olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the bowl

Directions

Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast & let stand until the yeast dissolves & swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water & oil & stir to combine.

Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients & continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer & replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth & elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl & cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.

To bake, place a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 500° for at least 30 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form both pieces of dough into smooth, round balls & cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.

Working with one piece of dough & keeping the other covered, shape the dough & transfer to a pizza peel or round of parchment dusted with semolina or cornmeal. Top as desired. Slide the dough onto the pizza stone. Bake until the crust edges brown & cheese is golden brown in spots, about 8 to 12 minutes.

For Calzones: Roll out dough to the desired size & top with desired sauce and toppings on one half of the circle, leaving about a half inch around all sides to ensure a good seal. Fold un-topped half over & pinch/crimp the edges together well so the filling doesn't leak. Brush top with olive oil & bake 12-15 minutes.

Repeat with remaining ball of dough or freeze for later use.