Ricotta Pie Calzones...

Not only is it a time to party because it's finally Friday, but I'm also back with another "stuffed" dough as we continue with our weekly Pizza Night tradition. I'm not certain yet what we're going to do with this when we travel down to Charlotte (we'll be heading down that way the middle of next week!) as I'm probably not going to have access to a kitchen, let alone an oven, but maybe we'll get a chance to shop around the local pizza haunts and see what they have to offer? Any suggestions from those around that area?

You'll need a pound of dough to throw these Ricotta Pie Calzones together and I'm sure it won't be a shocker that I indeed did use our snazzy whole-wheat pizza dough. But of course, if you have a favorite recipe, or prefer a dough from your favorite pizzeria or local market, so be it!

Three cheeses compose the filling we stuffed inside - ricotta, cubes of fresh mozzarella and just-grated Parmigiano Reggiano. One golden egg yolk, a clove's worth of minced garlic and fresh parsley are stirred into the mix, along with two meaty ingredients - diced prosciutto and chopped salami! If those last two are not on your radar, don't automatically give up on trying this recipe out - think about replacing them with ham and pepperoni! I know I'd love to also try using crumbled Italian sausage as another filler instead, or maybe even forgo the meat all together and try using well-seasoned sautéed hearty greens like dino kale or chard!

There was definitely a growl in my stomach as I was making them, which probably led me to parcel this out into four burly portions. If you're not as ravenous, I imagine you could eek out six satisfying servings - you just won't stretch the balls of dough out as large as we did. I would try to keep them around six inches in diameter, rather than the larger seven-and-a-half. If you find the dough starts to spring back or resists being stretched, cover it and leave the dough be for 5 to 10 minutes - this will relax the gluten and make it easier to worth with.

When you're ready to place the ricotta on the dough, spread the filling out on only half of the round, making sure that you leave the edge on that half clean. When you flip the empty side of dough over to hide the ricotta, keeping the filling off the edge will make sure the other side has something to stick to, along with the help of a light egg wash.

After all of the half-moon shaped calzones were ready, each was brushed with a bit more egg wash (sweetened slightly with a spoonful of confectioners' sugar) for color and given a few slits on top to vent, making sure there are not any hot, cheesy blowouts! These larger ones took us about twenty-six minutes to heat the ricotta concoction through and turn the pale crusts golden - if you opt for making smaller calzones, check on them at least five minutes earlier.

Recipes
Ricotta Pie Calzones