Back into the groove with Calzones...

Life has finally started to fall into its new routine around here, though it is still a bit more hectic than we would like it to be. We've been able to find time to run around and explore our new surroundings, but we hope to do more of that when we have free time on the weekends... especially the farmers' markets on Saturday's! We're going to try and check out one of the newer markets tomorrow morning that wants to focus on local-only produced goods in a "city market concept".

I'm also making sure we keep up with our Friday routine of Pizza Night, which we did this evening by making these Calzones with Ricotta, Broccoli and Prosciutto. We did use our favorite whole-wheat pizza dough that always makes life easier, but feel free to use whatever dough suits your fancy. After it had time to bubble and brew in our dough container (a sparkling clean small painters bucket from Lowes, no less), we divided the ball into four pieces, rolling each into a good 6" round.

On the center of each dough, we spread a slick two-cheese garlicky concoction made from creamy ricotta, shreds of mozzarella and garlic, obviously, which was followed with a dollop of zesty pizza sauce (your favorite thick marinara sauce would work too) for not only flavor, but extra moisture. A small mound of steamed, then chopped, fresh broccoli florets (we had a small head leftover after last night's casserole!) were then scattered over the sauce and the filling was complete with a smattering of salty strips of prosciutto. Don't feel chained to the ingredients we used - use whichever type of lightly cooked vegetable that sounds good at the time and mess with the meat if you like... ham, Canadian bacon or even a few discs of pepperoni sound good to me!

Making these in continual assembly line fashion worked better for me, however you can concentrate on one at a time - just keep the extra pieces of dough you are not working with covered so they don't begin to dry out. When you fold the dough onto itself, making the half-moon calzone shape, use your fingers to try and keep the fillings tucked inside - as long as you keep the edge of the dough clean, it won't take much more than a few sturdy pinches to keep the dough closed while baking.

A fork also works well to press the dough sides together to make a tight seal. Just before these went into the oven, we drizzled each calzone with olive oil and gave them a gentle rub down to coat. You absolutely don't have to do this, but it definitely makes for a more pleasing color to the stuffed pieces of dough - it doesn't take much, usually a half teaspoon is sufficient to transform the drab paleness to a rich golden brown.

I do suggest slicing a slit into the top of the calzones, giving any steam that forms a place to vent, rather than risking a blowout!

Recipes
Calzones with Ricotta, Broccoli and Prosciutto