Calzone/Calzoni

Many people in the U.S. mispronounce and misuse the Italian word calzone. First, it has 3 syllables [kal-ZO-ne(h)], not 2 [kal-ZONE] (insert BUZZER SOUND here!). Second, calzone refers to one doughy envelope of yummy fillings, while calzoni refers to more than one, not calzones (insert appalled gasp here).



I usually make the pizza dough from Peter Reinhart, but I decided to try another recipe to see if there would be a big difference. I definitely prefer Reinhart's recipe. The dough comes out beautifully, and the texture is perfect with a satisfying crunch. The dough I found on allrecipes did not even come close. It had a plain taste by comparison, but it was satisfying enough. The allrecipe version produced enough dough for two big pizze (the plural for pizza), so I used the second portion to make calzoni. I took the frozen pizza dough out of my freezer and put it in the refrigerator to thaw out overnight.



My calzoni were filled with Italian sausage, provolone [pro-vo-LO-ne(h)], parmiggiano reggiano, a mixture of other cheeses, mushrooms, and spaghetti sauce. The calzoni turned out okay, but they came out misshapen because I forgot to transport the rolled-out dough to the jelly pan before filling them (DOH!). I studied some youtube videos to see how the Italians prepare their calzoni. They add tomatoes or tomato sauce and olive oil on top of the calzoni, and some also add salt and oregano, which is what I did. I also added extra parmiggiano reggiano on top. I plan to make these again with the Reinhart dough. I'm sure they will look and taste a lot better than these did. The ones pictured here were still delicious, though.