Homemade Calzones – What Went Wrong?

A calzone is basically a pizza folded in half stuffed with cheeses and other goodies.  The ingredients used for fillings can be just as varied as the toppings for a pizza.

I’ve been reading about calzones because I’ve lately been into making my own pizza dough.

My husband loves calzones and I would love to be able to make them for him.  I tried it this past weekend and my results looked very promising.

The dough looked good and the filling looked good.  I did a ricotta and spinach filling.

We baked the calzones and were excited to bite into them.

The problem – they had no flavor.   My ricotta spinach pizza recipe has more flavor than this.

I’m asking for help here from those who may know a thing or two about calzones.  What did I do wrong?

My Own Conclusions:

1.  Dough – Regular basic pizza dough should not be used – no matter who says it can.  The dough has to be a really good dough – I don’t have such a recipe yet.  I don’t think it matters how the dough is made.  I used a bread machine, but a food processor like the Cuisinart food and dough mixer would work just as well – or simply make it by hand.

2.  Fillings – It’s not the same as pizzas.   Use a mix of cheeses including mozzarella.  The ricotta and spinach just didn’t carry much weight.  Perhaps I needed more garlic, salt – tomatoes?

3.  Baking – Should I have used an egg wash?   I had spread one calzone with olive oil on top, and the other I baked without olive oil on top.   The difference to me – none.

Is a calzone really as simple as making a homemade pizza and folding it over some fillings?   Based on my experience – No it isn’t.

Liz

SimpleItalianCooking.com

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