Calzone Any Way You Like It

Let me start off with this is more like a stuffed bread, but I call it calzone because I want to and because I can. Ha, no, its just easier to say calzone but I always end up having to clarify that it is indeed a stuffed bread. So heres the deal with these puppies. I make the for almost every party that I go to and I can honestly say that these are always the first to fly off the serving plate. Always. The nice thing about stuffed breads is that you can put ANY THING you want inside and it will be delicious. Today, I made two, one is buffalo chicken and the other is an italian dry salami. Also, to make life easier on yourself, feel free to buy the pre-made dough from your grocery store. Luckily, pretty much every grocer around carries these pre-made doughs in both wheat and white. I've also seen organic, but I just go for one wheat and one white. The reason being is that its easier to tell people that the wheat bread is one filling and the white bread is another filling. And as you see, I do not use tomato sauce thus this not being a true calzone which is a-ok!

And before we begin let me just say one more thing. There is nothing worse than a bready calzone, so I am about to show you how to make it so that EVERY cut and EVERY bite has a bit of filling, even the ends!

Shall we move onto my fillings? The first one I'd like to share is the buffalo chicken filling. Here are the ingredients you will need.

Salami and Cheese

1/4 Cup Franks Red Hot Wing Sauce
1 large can chicken, drained (you can use fresh too)
1 cup shredded cheese, cheddar, mozzarella or anything you like
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 tbsp olive oil

And my other calzone for today was made like this:
1/2 lb dried peppered Italian salami or a package of pepperoni or deli sliced turkey breast, ham etc
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
1 tbsp olive oil

Start off by defrosting the dough, it will begin to rise as it defrost. If its already defrosted then great! Roll the sucker out on a very lightly floured surface. The nice thing about these doughs is that while they are sticky, they don't necessarily stick to everything. You will want to roll it out into a thin rectangle, but not too thin, you don't want to to break when you start to toll it. Don't worry about the shape, oval is fine too, just make sure that its evenly rolled and not too thick or too thin.

Next, pour the sauce on the dough and spread it out. Add the chicken and cheeses. Now, my pictures aren't the greatest but I tried to show you how to fold the calzone. I actually kind of roll it, and this is what helps us to defeat the dreaded bready parts of the calzone. So, gently flop over once away from you and begin to fold in the sides, maybe a half inch.

Beginning Fold

Ending Fold

Keep gently rolling, you may be able to roll this three times and as you are doing it make sure you are pinching the ends shut so that the filling doesn't melt out. You can also tightly roll this up so when you cut it, it comes out more like a pinwheel and less like a calzone, whatever you like!

Finally! Its time to transfer the calzone to a lightly sprayed cookie sheet, brush the top with olive oil and bake at 400 F for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.
This last part is very important. As soon as the calzone comes out of the oven, transfer it to a cooling rack. If you do not do this, the steam that is trying to escape from the bottom of the calzone will actually end up steaming the bread and making it very soggy.

Yes it is crooked! Resting on the rack

If you try this and bring it to a party and its NOT the first thing to go, then let me know so I can figure out what you did wrong hehe. Really, I can almost guarantee that everyone will love whatever you try out. If you decide to use cold cuts, you can spread mustard down first and then add your cold cuts and cheese or you can serve the calzone sliced with a mustard dipping sauce. Really, the possibilities are endless!

Enjoy!