Mini-Calzones

I love to eat calzones.  I don't love to make calzones.  They're hard to make!  I tried to make normal size calzones a long time ago, but failed miserably.  I'm impressed by restaurants/people who make their calzones with a crust that is even and smooth.  I had a sad attempt that ended with an unevenly baked crust that was lumpy and had filling in various spots.  The taste was not to complain about, but the presentation was quite bad.

I saw a recipe on Sprouted Kitchen for these mini-calzones.  Perfect!  Maybe little ones won't be so tough.  They weren't. They were cute and delicious.  My only complaint is that I put too much filling in each little dough square, and was then not able to fold it all the way to make it completely enclosed.  They turned out to be more like turnovers.   

I made 2 separate types of filling, one with traditional pizza toppings, and a mixture that I have been curious about for a while.  The traditional one was sausage, mozzarella and ricotta cheese, tomatoes, garlic, basil and oregano.  The other was a mixture of apple, carmelized onions, and cheddar cheese.  The combination sounds strange, but I had seen it used on a couple of different things, and it intrigued me.  They were awesome.

If I had cared enough about football and the superbowl to not schedule myself to work and actually go to a super bowl party, I would have made and brought these little things.  I heard that I did not miss much anyway, since all I care about is the halftime show and the awesome commercials where Miss Aguilera forgot the lines of the National Anthem and the Black Eyed Peas "had no one in the world less talented then them" (according to Jeremy).  Anywho, I'm not fretting over missing the game or the show, but I am trying to think about the next opportunity I will have so that I can make these again. 

Mini Calzones

adapted from Sprouted Kitchen

for the crust:

3 cups flour

1-11/4 cup water

1 tsp active dry yeast

pinch sugar

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp salt

3 Tbsp chives

The possibilities for the fillings are endless, but here are the ingredients I used:

Sausage

mozzarella cheese (fresh is best)

parmesan cheese

ricotta cheese

tomatoes

garlic

oregano

Apples, diced

cheddar cheese

onions, sliced thinly and carmelized

chives

to make the dough:

Add a 1/2 cup warm water to the yeast along with a pinch of sugar.  Mix it together gently and let it sit until bubbly/foamy.  Combine the yeast, flour and salt in a large bowl.  mix together and add the remaining water and olive oil. mix until it forms a slightly stickly ball.  knead the dough on a floured surface for a few minutes.  grease a bowl and place the kneaded dough in it. Cover the bowl with saran wrap/damp towel and let it rise for about 2 hours.  punch down the dough and divide it into little 1-2 inch balls.  roll out into little squares.

Preheat oven to 500.  Place the squares onto floured baking sheets.  Place a tbsp or so of filling in each (depending on how big you make the squares), then fold opposite corners together and pinch to seal.  Spread the tops with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Bake in the upper 1/3 of the oven for about 13-14 mins until the tops are crispy brown.   

   

Other ideas for fillings:

goat cheese+hazelnuts+honey

feta cheese+tomatoes+olives+spinach+red onion

raspberries+sourcream+brown sugar

nutella+bananas+chocolate chips