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This Week, Say Bye to Georgia Football And Hello to Calzone

Calzones are often confused with Stromboli. And while rarely confused with pizza, the average "Joe American" is unable to tell you the difference between a pizza, Calzone, and Stromboli. As you likely know, pizza is traditionally cooked with a pizza or marinara sauce, is open-faced, and everyone has their own favorite toppings. A Calzone, on the other hand, does not use a marinara or pizza sauce (though it is often dipped in one). It is pizza dough folded over onto itself into a half-moon or crescent shape. The Stromboli, a very close cousin to the Calzone, is rolled as opposed to folded. Got it? Good.

Today, I am going to illustrate how to make a Calzone on a Big Green Egg. While you can choose any toppings of your preference, I am going to make a pretty impressive Calzone. It is going to be glorious. At annual Eggtoberfest competitions, this is easily my prized creation. While I have not seen a fist-fight, I have seen some impressive shoving matches as the amount of Calzone samples diminishes and it becomes clear there are more people than Calzone.

The particular Calzone I am making today is not cheap. In fact, it costs around $30 in groceries. Want the good news? You can make a second Calzone, Stromboli, or pizza for another $5 to $6. In other words, make two instead of one and invite some fellow Dawg fans over to enjoy it.

Ingredients

  • Dough ball. Make your own. Better solution? Get a one-pound dough ball from Publix for $3. For me, it is worth the convenience. Roll out to a circle or square, doesn't matter.
  • 16-ounces of Ricotta Cheese.
  • Pepperoni.
  • Italian Sausage.
  • 8-ounces of Mozzarella cheese.
  • Sliced Mushrooms.
  • Sliced olives.
  • Spinach.
  • 4 to 5 large garlic cloves.
  • Parmesan or Romano cheese.
  • Italian Seasoning.
  • Olive Oil.
  • Pizza or Marinara dipping sauce (optional).
  • Parchment Paper (if cooking at 400 degree or lower) or corn meal (if cooking over 400 degrees).

Setting Up The Egg

  1. If you screw this up, you are done. I killed many, many, pizzas figuring out what the heck I was doing. Start by preheating your egg to either 350/400 degrees or 650/700 degrees. Lower temperatures will serve you well if you have really stuffed Calzones as I do. In this case, parchment paper is your friend as it won't burn until you surpass 400 degrees. If you want to cook it fast and pizzeria-style, get it as hot as possible. Regardless, we are turning the Big Green Egg (BGE) into a brick-oven.
  2. Use your plate-setter (deflector) and put it legs down. If you need to know more about what this is, just Google it. Add the grill-grate on top of it.
  3. IMPORTANT BEYOND IMPORTANT. You need to effectively elevate your baking stone so air flows underneath it. An inch to an inch-and-a-half is ideal. I use what are called "Egg-Legs". They do not make them anymore, but you can often find them on e-Bay. You can also just roll some mini balls of foil to elevate off the grill-grate. Once you have figured out your best method, add a baking stone. If you fail to do this, you will burn the ever living snot out of your Calzone (if Calzones had snot). You need to buy time for the inside of the Calzone to cook without burning the crust.
  4. If you are going for a hot-cook (700 degrees), add some corn meal to the baking stone; otherwise, just wait.


Constructing the Calzone

  1. Roll out your dough.
  2. Add about 16-ounces of Ricotta cheese over half the dough. Spread all the way to the edge.
  3. Add your meats. In my case, I'm adding pepperoni and sausage.
  4. I also pre-cook my sausage in a skillet. I brown each side for 90-seconds, add a half-cup of water, and then simmer on low, covered, for 20-minutes.


5. Now add your Mozzarella cheese. On top of this, I add my veggies. In this case, sliced mushrooms, sliced olives, and then the spinach leaves.


6. Now you are going to fold over the dough and tuck it under the dough, effectively making a half-moon or crescent shape. You will then move the Calzone onto a piece of parchment paper.


7. Now, mince your garlic and spread it liberally over the top of the calzone. This is going to make it very aromatic as it caramelizes on the top.
8. Liberally add Italian Seasoning, Parmesan and/or Romano cheese.
9. Drizzle olive-oil over the top and then rub it all together over the top of the Calzone.
10.Cut slits into the Calzone so heat can escape.


11. My BGE is preheated between 350 degrees and 400 degrees. I place the parchment paper and Calzone on the baking stone for around 35 to 40 minutes. You want the top to be browning and the cheese to be bubbling.
12. Remove the parchment paper (think of the old magic trick of yanking a tablecloth while leaving the plates and flowers intact). It should slide out easily. Give the Calzone another 10-minute cook to brown the bottom.
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13. Pull Calzone, let it cool for five-minutes, slice and serve. Provide dipping sauce if it floats your boat.



Hope you enjoy!

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