Dinner and Dessert Idea

Calzones

There are so many different possibilities when it comes to making fillings for calzones. At first I was going to lay out the ingredients and let each family member make their own. Instead I just made 4 calzones with different fillings that we could all share.

The Crust - this was a pretty good recipe although I might try a different recipe next time. You can use any kind of pizza dough.
1 T yeast
1 T sugar
1 C warm water
1/4 C olive oil
1 t salt
3 C flour
Mix yeast, sugar and warm water and let stand for 5-10 minutes. Add 1/4 C olive oil and mix together. Add salt and flour and mix well. Add flour 1 T at a time until dough is no longer sticky (I didn't need to add any additional flour). Cover and let rise for 1 hour. Punch down, divide into four sections. On a floured surface, roll each section into an 8 inch circle. Spoon filling onto one half of circle. Fold dough over filling and pinch to close and seal calzone. Transfer to cookie sheet that is covered with cornmeal, flour, greased or I used parchment paper. Brush with egg wash (one egg, whisked). Bake at 400-450 degrees for 20-30 minutes until browned.

Filling ideas: Below are the four fillings I used. The recipes aren't exact because I just kind of improvised. But the options are almost endless and there are a ton of ideas online - BBQ chicken, Parmesan chicken, broccoli and cheese, philly steak, etc.

Pepperoni and Cheese (for the kids): tomato sauce (I just used store bought spaghetti sauce), mozzarella cheese and pepperoni

Spinach (my favorite): spinach and garlic (sauteed in olive oil until wilted); mix with ricotta cheese and 1 egg, salt and pepper

Ham and Swiss: ham, garlic, swiss cheese and tomatoes (next time I will leave out the tomatoes)

Combination: tomato sauce, pepperoni, peppers, onions, tomatoes, garlic, mozzarella cheese


And for dessert...
Banana Cream Pie from the Lion House Bakery cookbook. I tried this last night. It was quite a bit of work but totally worth it! I also hate to admit that I abandoned making homemade pie crusts as soon as my mom introduced me to the Marie Callendar frozen pie crusts. So I cheated in that regard.

My friend's lovely blog gives great instructions. Including this great idea: instead of putting bananas in the pie where they inevitably turn brown - just make a cream pie and at the time of serving, slice bananas on the top with a dollop of whipped cream. Yummy!