Homemade Calzones - Wonderful!

Hello - sorry to be gone for so long but I was sort of on a vacation at home while my grandchildren's educator parents were on their spring break.  Gavin was with us for one over nighter and Elizabeth was here one evening while her parents went to a movie.  Other than that,  I was home alone and found so many things to keep me busy as well as plenty of time for just relaxing.

One thing I did,  actually did it twice as they turned out so very good,  was to make homemade from scratch calzones.  They are delicious warm from the oven.  They are also delicious when they have been frozen,  then reheated in a microwave for 90 seconds.

Mine were filled with browned up hot Italian sausage,  mozzarella cheese, bell peppers and onions and just a little homemade tomato sauce. 

the dough is really easy to roll out and has no weird ingredients.  

baked ones.


I divided the dough into 10 pieces but I think making 12 would be big enough for a  main course helping.
I also plan on making much smaller ones to have for my grandchildren.

I like the Italian ones but also plan to do some taco ones, breakfast ones and maybe some cheese and veggies ones with no meat.

after they cool,  I bag them in freezer bags and freeze.  Jeff has taken them in his lunch box several times and I like something easy for my lunch too.

this dough recipe is from the Fleishmans yeast site.

Dough
3 to 3-1 / 2 cups all-purpose flour  

(both of my batches have used 3 1/4 cups flour for the right consistency)
1 / 2 cup cornmeal
2 t yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1-1 / 4 cups water
1 / 4 cup olive oil

Directions

Combine 1 cup flour, cornmeal, undissolved yeast and salt in a large bowl. Heat water and olive oil until very warm (120^o to 130^oF). Gradually add to flour mixture. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes.    I do the dough in the bread machine on the dough cycle  

Divide dough into 10 equal pieces; roll each piece to 6-inch circle. Place 1/3 cup filling of your choice on one half of each circle. Fold dough over filling; pinch seam or press with tines of fork to seal.  I think they seal better with just a little water rubbed on to one side too

Place on greased baking sheets. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 400^oF for 20 to 25 minutes or until done. Serve warm.

Homemade Pigs in Blankets

I know Dawn from a homemaking list on YahooGroups and also read her blog.  She posted about making some good homemade calzones recently

The dough recipe is found HERE at Bread World.

The dough is basic yeast dough that also has some cornmeal and a little more olive oil than a normal crust recipe.  The oil makes it really easy to roll out and the cornmeal gives it just a little crunch.
I wanted an easy meal last week on a night when our grandson was here for supper.  I remembered 3 packs of Hebrew Kosher hot dogs in the freezer but did not think going to the store for buns or crescent rolls was something I wanted to do.  (with high gas prices and a toddler or 2 with me on most days,  I just don't drive to the store unless I have to,  I like doing things at home with things I already have and this recipe fits that plan perfectly)
So I just mixed up a batch of this calzone dough in the bread machine.  Half of it very amply wrapped up those 7 hot dogs.  I rolled out the other half  for a parbaked pizza crust.

We liked the pigs in blankets very much and the pizza crust was good too.  I plan to make some calzones for the freezer soon.