Italian Calzone

6/19/13 Cook’s Corner

Betty Kaiser

Many years ago my husband was a commercial food and equipment salesman up and down the California coastline. He sold massive amounts of food (and everything needed to prepare it) to hospitals, military bases, chain restaurants and tiny Marianne’s Italian Villa. Marianne’s was an Italian restaurant in a class by itself. Everything they served was fresh—every day. Soon they outgrew their location and asked Chuck to design them a new kitchen for a larger restaurant. He was delighted and in the enlarged space new generations were introduced to fabulous Italian fare.

Ralph (the owner and chef) was the son of an Italian mother and Irish father. Cooking Italian-style was his life. His kitchen was a well-oiled organization. He came in early and stayed late. to prepare everything from scratch: pizza dough, noodles, sausage, meatballs, sauces, and the best cheesecake in the world.

He and Chuck worked together so well they were like brothers. So, when our family went to dinner at Marianne’s, we learned to never order from the menu. We ate whatever Ralph decided to serve us. Caroline (the head waitress) would just tell him that the Kaiser family was in the house and the food would start coming. 

First came the antipasto platter of cold cuts, cheeses and peppers drizzled with homemade vinaigrette. Up next was usually calzone—one of our favorite dishes. It would be followed by a variety of pastas and Braciola (Italian beef rolls in tomato sauce). And then…dessert would arrive. Smooth ricotta stuffed cannoli shells or cheese cake.

Italian Calzone is basically a stuffed pizza or turnover. Ralph served it family style with a dipping marinara sauce. Until recently, I never made it at home because I have a history of yeast dough failures. But now, pizza yeast dough is easily made from fresh or frozen dough purchased from markets. I like to make the small, single serving size calzones filled with Italian sausage, spices and cheese.

The process is simplicity itself. While the dough is thawing and rising, prepare the meat filling and set it aside to cool. In a separate bowl, combine the cheeses and egg. Once all the filling ingredients are cool combine them and set aside. Then, thinly roll out the individual yeast rolls into circles on a floured surface. Add a few tablespoons of filling, fold, crimp edges, brush with egg and bake. Serve warm with marinara sauce.

The following recipe by Ree Drummond is as near as I can come to my replication of Ralph’s filling. There are a zillion other fillings but this is my favorite. A pepperoni mushroom alternative follows. I’ve also added a quick (5 ingredients) marinara recipe for you to try but use a bottled sauce if you like. Enjoy!

INDIVIDUAL CALZONES

Recipe by Ree Drummond

Whole frozen, dinner rolls (or) frozen bread loaves.

1 tablespoon butter

1 whole medium onion, diced

1 pound breakfast or Italian sausage

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

15 ounces, whole milk ricotta cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1-1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

2 whole eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

Black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Marinara sauce, for serving

1 whole egg beaten

Preparation

Place frozen rolls (or frozen bread loaves) on a baking sheet to thaw. Cover with a tea towel and let thaw and rise for 2 to 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and allow to cook for a couple of minutes. Add sausage and cook until brown, crumbling the sausage as you stir. Add Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes. Remove from pan and allow to cool on a plate.

In a separate bowl, combine ricotta, Parmesan, mozzarella, eggs, salt, pepper, and parsley. When sausage is cool, stir it in. Set aside.

When rolls are thawed and risen, roll them out on a lightly floured surface until paper thin. Spoon 3-4 tablespoons (approximately) filling onto half of the dough circle. Fold half of the dough over itself, then press edges to seal. Brush surface of calzone with beaten egg, then bake for 10-13 minutes, or until nice and golden brown. Serve with warm marinara sauce.

CALZONE PEPPERONI FILLING

5 ounces sliced pepperoni

1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 pound mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1/2 pound mozzarella, shredded

1 egg, beaten

1/4 teaspoon each: oregano, crushed red pepper, salt

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 475° F.

Prepare pizza dough for larger calzone: Use about 1/3 of each loaf for each calzone. Roll out 1/4” thick. Leave about an inch perimeter and layer on meat, vegetables and cheese. Fold the empty half of dough over toppings. It will make a half circle shape. Press the edges together firmly and slice 4-5 vents in the top of the calzone. Brush beaten egg over the top and sprinkle with seasonings and Parmesan cheese.

Place in hot oven and bake 12-18 min. Cover with foil if it browns too quickly. Remove from oven and allow to rest 5 min. Slice and serve with marinara sauce.

QUICK MARINARA SAUCE

1 28 ounce can tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon Italian seasonings (or more

1-2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons brown sugar

Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20-30 min. Cool to lukewarm. Puree in a blender or food processor.  Reheat if desired.

Keep it simple and keep it seasonal! 

Betty Kaiser’s Cook’s Corner is dedicated to sharing a variety of recipes

 that are delicious, family oriented and easy to prepare.

Oxnard Strawberry Season begins with a festival

6/5/13 Cook’s Corner

Betty Kaiser

It’s strawberry time! Yes, last month the weather outside was frightful but the birds were still feasting on tiny wild strawberries growing in our meadow. Soon we will have sweet, juicy Oregon strawberries growing in our gardens. Now, big California strawberries are bringing us a touch of summer.

And speaking of California, this year was the 30^th anniversary of the California Strawberry Festival in Oxnard—an extraordinarily sweet event! Every year on the third Sunday in May, College Park opens its 15 acres to a gigantic Strawberry Festival. It features food booths, live concerts, free rides, celebrity chef demonstrations, gooey contests, arts and crafts exhibits and more. So far, the proceeds have sweetened Southland charities to more than $4 million dollars.

The “Build your own Strawberry Shortcake” tent is always a favorite. Sponsored by Bimbo and Reddi Whip, you can build a foundation of pound cake, ladle on strawberries, add a dollop of whipped cream and top off with fresh strawberries. Cost is only $5. Yum!

The highlight of the day is always the Berry Blast-Off Recipe Contest “Smack Down.” Recipes are submitted in advance of the contest and two finalists are chosen. This year’s finalists were “A Strawberry Brule (with Rockin Berry Brittle),” by Winona Krieer of Agoura Hills; and an “Oxnard Strawberry Coconut No-Bake Tiramisu” by Larissa Nelson of Fillmore.  The strong strawberry flavor of Nelson’s tiramisu was the winner and her prize was a four-night cruise!

Today’s column features Nelson’s award winning strawberry tiramisu recipe and a simple, sweet fresh strawberry pie recipe. It is made with a cooked sauce (just crushed strawberries, sugar, cornstarch and lemon) that is poured over fresh strawberry halves in a baked pie shell. Enjoy!

 Oxnard Strawberry Coconut No-Bake Tiramisu

Recipe by Larissa Nelson

Ingredients

1 pound fresh strawberries, sliced

¼ cup fresh orange juice, divided in half

¾ cup shredded sweetened coconut

¾ cup canned coconut milk (full fat best)

¼ cup sugar

8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature

¾ cup powdered sugar

½ teaspoon coconut extract

8-ounce container Cool Whip

Two 3.5-ounce packages of Ladyfingers

Substitutions: If you cannot find mascarpone cheese, use cream cheese. If you cannot find Ladyfingers, use one 12-ounce pound cake

Other items needed:

Skillet/pan

Mixer

Bowl

Shallow bowl

8-by-8-by-2 pan or six 4-inch bowls

Directions:

1. Wash and slice strawberries. Place in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of orange juice. Stir gently. Set aside.

2. Heat coconut in a single layer in a pan over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until golden-brown. Watch to see that it doesn’t burn. It usually will be ready in seven to 10 minutes.

3. While coconut is toasting, combine coconut milk, 2 tablespoons orange juice and ¼ cup sugar in saucepan. Heat until sugar dissolves, about three to four minutes. Set aside and let cool.

4. Using a mixer, cream together mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, and coconut extract. Beat until just combined. When combined, fold the Cool Whip into the mixture.

5. Start making the first layer by pouring the coconut milk mixture into a large, shallow bowl. Dip Ladyfingers in mixture, letting them soak for a few seconds, and then place into an 8-inch square dish or six 4-inch glass bowls. Ladyfingers may be broken to fit the dish(es).

6. To make the second layer, spread half of the mascarpone filling over the ladyfingers.

7. For the third layer, arrange one layer of strawberry slices over the filling, drizzling a bit with the liquid from the strawberries. Sprinkle strawberries with half of the toasted coconut.

8. For the fourth layer, add the last layer of soaked Ladyfingers. Drizzle them with remaining coconut milk mixture.

9. Make the fifth layer by spreading the remaining mascarpone filling over the Ladyfingers.

10. Serve right away or let sit overnight. Just before serving, top with remaining toasted coconut and sliced strawberries. Serves 6

Simply Strawberry Pie

1 unbaked pie crust

1 quart (about 2 pounds) fresh strawberries
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place pie crust into 9" or 10" pie plate. Flute edges. Prick with fork all over, about 40 times. Place piece of foil inside pie crust, lightly pressing around inside bottom edges of crust. Fill with dried beans. (The beans allow the pie crust to remain its shape.)

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and remove beans and foil. Return to oven and bake for 5 minutes until edges are golden brown.

Wash strawberries and hull (removing the green tops and core). Chop 1/2 of the berries with into small pieces or process in food processor.

Place chopped berries into a sauce pan and begin to cook over medium heat. Mix sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl; add to pan with crushed berries. Add lemon juice and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat.

Cut remaining strawberries into halves and mix with the cooked mixture.

Pour strawberry mixture into baked pie shell. Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours, or until pie is set.

Meanwhile, whip cream: Put whipping cream in COLD metal mixer bowl. Whip cream until medium peaks form. Beat in sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. The cream is ready when still fluffy and you can run a knife through it that leaves a track. Don’t under beat or you’ll have soup. Don’t over beat. Or you’ll have lumpy butter!

Keep it simple and keep it seasonal! Betty Kaiser’s Cook’s Corner is dedicated to sharing a variety of recipes that are delicious, family oriented and easy to prepare. Contact her at 942-1317 or email bchatty@bettykaiser.com