Dear America, Please Switch To The Metric System

Seriously why aren’t we using this?!? It makes measuring oh so much easier. Ok mini rant over. Anyways, its been a good long while since I updated this blog. I once again have the time to do proper updates. Maybe I’ll get off my lazy ass and do weekly posts…..and maybe Pluto will gain planet status again…..

Now on to business. With this chill in the air, its a good time to crank up that oven of yours. In an effort to take back restaurant fair, I offer up a simple and delicious calzone recipe. All calzones begin with pizza dough. Pizza dough isn’t a difficult thing to make at home. This simple dough recipe, thanks to the awesomeness of metric, can easily be doubled/tripled/etc. You can easily portion it off and freeze it for future use.

Pizza Dough

500g Bread flour
1/2 Tbl salt
1/2 Tbl sugar
1 Tbl Olive Oil
1 packet/ 2.25 Tsp yeast
325 ml dark malty beer, such as a bock or brown ale, heated to 115f

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine beer, yeast, sugar, and oil. Stir to combine and let proof for 10 minutes. Attach the dough hook, and add the flour and salt. Mix until dough comes to together, adding more flour if dough is too sticky. Knead the dough until smooth and springy to the touch – 30-40 minutes with a stand mixer. Dough should have some good elasticity.

Remove dough from bowl. Lightly oil the bowl and the dough. Return to bowl and cover w/ a damp towel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume. Punch dough the dough and lightly knead it to work out the air. Now the dough is ready to use. At this point you can also portion out and wrap the dough for future use. Pizza dough freezes quite well.

Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Calzone

1 recipe pizza dough
1 bunch broccoli rabe, rinsed and trimmed
1/2 pound mild or sweet Italian sausage
Shredded mozzarella
Pesto*
water
1 egg+ 1 Tbl water

Heat oven to 400f. To make the calzone filling bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli rabe. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the greens, and squeeze out as much water as you can. Chop the cooked greens. While greens are cooking, take the sausages out of their casing. In a pan, break up the sausages and cook until jits no longer pink. Combine the broccoli rabe and sausage together in a bowl.

Now to make the calzones. Separate the dough out into 6 balls. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Take the balls and roll them out into approximately 10 inch circles. Place some shredded cheese off center. top with a 1/3 cup of the cooled filling. Top with a tbls of pesto, and then more cheese. Wet you fingers and run them along the edge of half the dough. Fold the other half of the dough over the filling. Using a fork press down and seal the edges together. Using a sharp knife, cut a couple of slits in the top of the dough. Brush the egg wash on the dough Move calzones to a hot pizza stone, or sheet pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.

*Home made pesto

1 bunch basil
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt

In bowl of a food processor combine the basil, pine nuts, cheese, and garlic. Pulse a few times to chop. Add in a steady stream the olive oil until mixture comes together. Taste pesto and season with salt. Store in a fridge with plastic wrap touching the pesto. Properly stored this pesto will last about a week.

~ by thebrewgeek on Wednesday, January 12, 2011.