Yummy calzones impress girls and make good crafts.

This Too Cute Tuesday was a little off program. John, my newish boyfriend, was visiting. Naturally I forced him to perform for a group by ordering him to make calzones for everyone.

A little background: John made me calzones the first time I visited him. They were amazing. I had them for dinner, then breakfast the next morning, then lunch. Yup, they were that good.

This calzone recipe is a family recipe passed down from John’s Grandma Capriccio.

Materials:
3 1/2 c. flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 packet of yeast
2ish cups of warm (not boiling) water
(makes three calzones)

Bowl
Saucepan
Cookie sheet

Glaze:
3 tbsp. olive oil
3 tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. grated parm cheese
a couple basil leaves (if you have them)

Fillings:
Your choice of prosciutto, mozzerella, spinach, basil, petit cut tomatoes, marinated grilled chicken, onion, garlic, pepper, sausage, mushroom, you name it!

Cocktail of the Day: Milk with Frangelico (thanks to Sue for thinking of an actual Italian cocktail!)

1. Sometime the afternoon of calzone time, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Stir dry ingredients together well, possibily with a whisk.

2. Warm up some water. This will react with the yeast so it is important that the water is hot but not boiling. You should be able to hold the container in your hands and think “this water is warm” not “this water is HOT!”.

3. Pour water into the bowl and gently mix it. Very gently. The batter will seem to have a “gloopy” consistency.

It should look like this:

A little lumpy is nice for calzones.

4. Warm up some more water in a medium saucepan (about half way full) until it is almost boiling.

5. Here is where the cool thing happens. Open your oven and put the saucepan of water on one shelf and your bowl on another. Don’t turn on the oven; this is just a place for the yeast to have a warm moist environment to do its thing. Let sit two hours.

Sarah whips up the almond meringue into stiff peaks.6. Punch the dough down and stick it back in the oven a little while longer.

7. Get ingredients ready (chop, dice, clean, etc.) and then head to Craft Central.

8. Cover cookie sheet in butter. Spread the dough in a thin layer on the sheet. Spread olive oil and garlic evenly on the dough. Add ingredients to one half and fold the other half over it, creating a pocket. It is best to do this with butter-covered hands.

9. Pour a glass of Frangelico and milk to calm the nerves of meeting all your girlfriend’s crafting buddies. Ahh, refreshing.

10. Watch everyone else prepare their Italian specialty to go with: Spagetti sauce, almond meringue, lasagna, roasted chicken… yum!

11. Bake the calzones at 500 degrees for about ten minutes. You’ll know they’re done when the crust is a light golden brown. Note: Smoke detectors may go off but it’s ok because 1) olive oil has a low smoking point and 2) the only other boy there is a firefighter.

12. Eat dinner and get rave reviews from the TCT crew. Isn’t John crafty?

Love Too Cute Tuesday? So do we. Join the Facebook page for advanced notice of crafts, additional photos and other fun features.

Need marketing help?

X