Calzone - The Glorified Pizza Pocket

I have had a checkered past with homemade pizza dough.  Following Alice Waters' recipe, I would often find myself elbow deep in sticky stuff and swearing in the kitchen as the phone would ring at that precise moment.

One thing I came to realize was this - even if a recipe says that you may use all purpose flour, do not do it!!!  It is a lie.  In the world of pizza dough, AP Flour is, to quote Principal Edward Rooney, "a first class ticket to nowhere."  Bread flour is the answer.  Bread flour will prevent the sticky mess.  Bread flour will provide a dough that obediently rolls up and becomes a cute little ball from which one can craft pizzas or calzones.

So for pizza dough, I now enjoy using Lorraine Pascal's recipe:

• 250g/9oz strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp fast-action dried yeast
• 125–145ml/4½–5fl oz warm water
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for oiling and drizzling

1. Mix the flour, salt and yeast together in a large bowl and make a well in the middle. In a jug, mix the water and oil together, then pour the liquid into the well of the flour mixture and mix to make a soft but not sticky dough.
   
   
2. Knead for 10 minutes by hand on a lightly floured work surface or for five minutes in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Bring the dough together to a smooth flat ball and place in a well-oiled bowl.  Cover loosely with a damp kitchen cloth or paper towel and store in a warm place for about 30 minutes.

You can put anything into a calzone, but last night I threw together a mixture of:

frozen spinach, thawed and drained
ricotta cheese
mozzarella cheese
1 egg
freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.

After rolling out the dough, I spooned a little leftover spaghetti sauce onto the disc and then put some of the mixture on top.  Then I folded the whole thing on a piece of parchment paper (very important, otherwise your dough will stick to the baking sheet).  Naturally it would be better if you used a pizza stone, but your movers might have misplaced this item and perhaps you haven't had a chance to visit the Crate & Barrel outlet yet.  Maybe you are waiting for school to start so that you can go to the store child-free.

Bake for 20 minutes, then check.  I like to put on little silicone mittens and flip the calzone over so that the other side gets nicely browned, too.  Bake for another 5-8 minutes if doing this, or until the other side is golden brown.