Homemade Calzones

As you may know if you're a regular follower of the blog, I'm a big fan of homemade pizza. It's definitely one of my all-time favorite homemade meals to make. It's so versatile and soooo yummy!! 

I've posted a few times about pizza in the past, including:

Savory Pumpkin Pizza Dough

BBQ Chicken Pizza with Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Peppers, Onions, and Rosemary

Root Vegetable Pizza with Sweet Potato, Onion, Rutabaga, and Acorn Squash (pictured below)

And I've even posted about a Breakfast Pizza, as well as a dessert style Candy Pizza!

So, I think you get the gist. I love pizza. ;)

Last week, however, I wanted to change it up. I was craving those typical flavors, but I didn't feel like doing the "same old" thing and make traditional pizza. So, of course, making calzones was the next best alternative! I've never actually made homemade calzones before, but I assumed it would be somewhat easy, and I didn't really follow a recipe for this...

I used a Stop n' Shop brand whole wheat pizza dough, divided it into two halves, and rolled each half out like I would if I were making pizza.

I baked a couple chicken breasts in the oven, one with bbq sauce and one with a plain tomato sauce.

Next, I sauteed an assortment of veggies, pictured here below (red peppers, onions, broccoli, and mushrooms). I believe I sauteed them in olive oil, and seasoned them with salt, pepper, and rosemary.

Next, Mike and I each built our own calzone. In mine, on one half of the dough, I first layered some of the already fully-cooked chicken breast, and I topped it with some more tomato sauce. I decided to cook both the chicken and veggies ahead of time because I wasn't sure how well they'd cook inside the dough.

Then I threw in some veggies; I just used the peppers, onions, and mushrooms in mine. Oh, and I added some chopped tomato too (which I did not saute ahead of time).

What's next? Cheese of course! I sprinkled some shredded mozzarella and grated parmesan on mine. When my fillings were all ready to go, I simply folded the other half of the dough over top of them.

(that looks like a lot of cheese, but it's not, I promise)

My and Mike's calzone's were a bit different in size. Oops! But who needs perfection when you're making calzones? Not me!

To seal the calzones, I just pressed the outside edges together with a fork.

How cute is my handsome fiance? ♥

I baked the calzones on my awesome pizza stone at 425 degrees for about 12 - 15 minutes, until they were lightly browned.

Apparently the dough of Mike's calzone was a bit thinner? That's my guess why his was more browned after baking.

Here's an inside shot of Mike's calzone. So good! In his, he put the bbq chicken, extra bbq sauce, all the different veggies, and an assortment of three cheeses (mozzarella, parm, and pepper jack!!).

And this was mine. Loved them both! We shared. I ate about 1/3 of mine and 1/3 of Mike's. I had intended to serve these with a side salad, but on this particular weekday I had already been busy in the kitchen for 2 hours before starting on the calzones, and to be honest, I just got too lazy and tired to prep all the veggies for a salad too. But that would have been the perfect accompaniment to these calzones!

The only thing I wish had happened was that the dough had risen more and was a bit thicker. It remained pretty thin, but that's ultimately okay. I'm not sure if I rolled it out too thin or if it maybe had something to do with the fact that this dough had been frozen and I had thawed it before using it? Not sure.

Either way, bottom line = I'd totally make calzones like this again! I'd also be excited to make an entirely veggie calzone without meat. Looove my veggies!

Root Vegetable Pizza with Sweet Potato, Rutabaga, Onion, and Acorn Squash

Who doesn't love eating pizza? And who doesn't love eating pizza that's both delicious and healthy? I'm pretty sure we all love pizza (if you don't, please do forgive me for making assumptions ;)), and I have another pizza recipe for you here today that you're bound to love. The inspiration for this pizza came from the fact that I had sweet potatoes and a rutabaga in the house that I wanted to eat up. With veggies like these, I'd typically roast them and eat them as a side dish with dinner or put them on top of a salad. The other day, though, those two ideas seemed boring to me. As I was brainstorming what else I should do with them, it hit me. Make pizza, of course! Just about any vegetable works on pizza really...well, according to the Barbershop rules of the kitchen anyway. :)

I bought whole wheat pizza dough at Whole Foods so I'd have a healthier dough as the base for my delicious pizza pie. I roasted my sweet potato, rutabaga, and onion in an oven around 400 degrees or so. All the veggies were drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and dried rosemary. I had actually roasted the acorn squash a few nights earlier so I only had to roast the other three. On top of my pizza dough, I spread a thin layer of canned tomato sauce and then the veggies. I then sprinkled some shredded mozzarella cheese and baked the pizza for about 10 - 12 minutes or so at 400 degrees (my oven cooks quickly; I think it might normally take a bit longer than that).

Oh, and in case you were wondering, before roasting the veggies, I chopped the rutabaga into 1/2-inch pieces (as pictured below) and the sweet potatoes into round slices that were maybe 1/4-inch thick. I don't peel my sweet potatoes before roasting them, but you're more than welcome to peel them if you don't care for the skin. You do have to peel a rutabaga before chopping or slicing though - just an FYI if you've never cooked with rutabaga! I hadn't ever cooked with one until we got one in our CSA last fall.

What here doesn't belong??

Whoops! Guess I snuck in a picture of the other pizza I made the same night. This one was more classic - peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Also a winning veggie combo!

Deeelish! I was so in love with this pizza. I've been enjoying leftovers for lunch at work the past two days too. Leftover pizza's the best and it's even better when it's full of yummy root veggies!

Happy mid-week, friends. :)

Barbecue Chicken Pizza with Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Peppers, Onions, and Rosemary on Multigrain Dough

Homemade pizza is probably in my top three dinners of all time. I love its versatility and the opportunity it provides to have a fairly healthy meal that's also a comfort food. :) I've written previously about some of my favorite combinations of toppings, and I've also shared an awesome savory pumpkin pizza dough recipe on the blog. Today I'm sharing a "recipe" for a most delicious pizza that Mike and I made last week - barbecue chicken pizza with roasted sweet potatoes, peppers, and onions on multigrain dough. YUM!

I used the multigrain pizza dough from Whole Foods when we made this pizza. Oh my goodness. This dough is the best! A Whole Foods very recently opened where I live, and I am sooo excited about it. Last week I picked up the last bag of multigrain dough that was on the shelves at the time, and I think it was meant to be. WF multigrain dough + me = a match made in heaven. Try not to be too jealous, fiance Mike. ;)

Now, this recipe doesn't really have exact measurements, per se. When making pizza, I just eyeball everything. So I apologize for not having measurements, but you'll get the idea!

Ingredients:

-pizza dough of your choice (you can make your own, of course!)

-barbecue sauce (I used a honey bbq sauce)

-cooked chicken, shredded or cut into bite-sized pieces (I baked a medium sized chicken breast with bbq sauce and then cut it into bite-sized pieces)

-roasted sweet potatoes (about 3/4 cup or so; I used leftovers I had roasted a couple nights prior, and at that time they were seasoned with salt, pepper, and rosemary)

-pepper (any color!), sliced

-onion, diced

-dried rosemary or other herbs of your choice

-shredded cheese of your choice (I used a store bought "Italian" blend of cheeses)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If using a pizza stone, preheat it in the oven (to prevent it from cracking). Saute your onion and pepper in olive oil, over medium heat on the stove, for 6 or 8 minutes until they start to get soft (they will cook more in the oven). Spread out your dough until it's as thick or thin as you'd like. Evenly spread a few tablespoons (or so!) of bbq sauce across the dough. Place the rest of your toppings (cooked chicken and veggies) evenly on top of the bbq sauce, and then sprinkle with your preferred flavor(s) and amount of cheese. I typically don't like my pizza too cheesy, as I don't want the cheese to overpower the taste of all the other delicious toppings! And it's healthier with less cheese too. ;) We chose to sprinkle some dried rosemary over top of our pizza before baking it. Feel free to add whatever herbs you might like!

(Terrible lighting there; sorry! But this is the dough with the bbq sauce spread on it.)

If you preheated a pizza stone, transfer the pizza to the stone and bake for 10 - 12 minutes (that's how long my pizzas take anyway!) or until the outer crust edges start to turn a light golden brown. I have preheated my pizza stone before, and I also haven't... It's turned out fine every time, but I guess you should probably do whatever your pizza stone's instructions tell you to do! I have an awesome Pampered Chef stone that my mom gave me. Love it!

Let your pizza sit for a couple minutes before slicing it. Then, ENJOY and try to hold back from eating the entire thing in one sitting. ;)

Below you'll see a slice of the bbq chicken pizza, but what's that on the left, you wonder? Well, it's the other pizza we made the same night! The second pizza was a tasty broccoli, tomato, and goat cheese pizza on Whole Foods white dough. Also super delicious! However, the bbq chicken and sweet potato pizza really stole the show, which is why I decided to share that one with you.

What toppings and flavor combinations do you like best on your own homemade pizza?!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far! :)

Savory Pumpkin Pizza Dough!

Welcome back! Hope everyone is having a great weekend thus far. Since I made the recipe I'm going to share with you here, I have not stopped thinking about it. Okay, well maybe I have been able to think about and focus on other things, but let's just say that thoughts of this savory pumpkin pizza dough have been dancing around in my mind quite a bit since I made it a few days ago. ;-) It has changed my life.

I found this recipe several weeks ago when I was perusing an awesome new cooking blog I found called "The Cooking Photographer." I saw her recipe for savory pumpkin pizza dough and knew I'd just have to make it at some point! That time finally came a few days ago when I had some leftover canned pumpkin that I wanted to use up. Suddenly, it hit me! Make that pumpkin pizza dough, Colleen!!!

So I did. :)

All in all, this was a very easy recipe. It does call for active dry yeast, so it involves letting the dough rise for an hour or so. It's important to know that ahead of time so you can plan accordingly! The link to the recipe can be found here, but I'm also going to copy and paste the instructions for you below.

Ingredients:
½ cup barely warm water
1 teaspoon honey
1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
3 ½ cups bread flour
1 cup canned pumpkin, (Not pumpkin pie filling)
2 Tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the bowl
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions:
1. Measure water in a wet measuring cup and stir in the honey and yeast. Set aside for 5 minutes.
2. In a stand mixer with a dough hook add all the ingredients including the yeast mixture and knead for several minutes.
3. Turn the dough onto a clean surface and knead with your hands for a couple more minutes. Coat a large bowl with a little olive oil, toss in the dough turning coat once to coat, and cover in plastic wrap.
4. Let the dough rise in a warm place for about an hour, or until large and poufy.

I followed the recipe almost exactly. The only things I did differently were omit the onion powder and add about 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary instead. I could really pick up on the rosemary flavor in the dough, so I was pleased with that addition! I have to say that the pumpkin flavor was subtle but still there, for sure. I think the level of "pumpkin-ness" was just right, personally. I even think that people who don't care for pumpkin might even like this dough!!

Time for pics!

I made this pizza on my awesome new Pampered Chef pizza stone. LOVE this new addition to my kitchen! I've used it twice so far, and I already can't wait to use it again. :)

On this particular pizza, I put on a regular tomato sauce with sauteed green peppers and onions, roasted asparagus, and roasted sweet potatoes (both the asparagus and sweet potatoes I had leftover from roasting the night before). And on half the pizza, I put small pieces of leftover baked pork chop I had cooked a few days before. Yummm. I love using up leftovers as pizza toppings! Remember my other post about being creative with homemade pizza? This pizza is definitely a good example of that creativity. ;-)

Mozzarella!

Here she is in the oven. :) I baked the pizza at 400 degrees for about 15 - 17 minutes or so.

Look at that puffy crust!!

This dough was SO good. It was dough-y and airy, yet it was slightly crispy around the outside crust too. It was just the right texture for pizza dough, in the Barbershop's opinion. And as I said earlier, the pumpkin flavor was noticeably there but definitely not overpowering at all. It's a winning recipe, friends!

I had a little extra dough, so in addition to the large pizza, I also made a couple rolls.

Check out that inside of that roll! Oh my goodness. I could have easily eaten like 6 of these rolls in one sitting. Next time I make this dough I think I might just make rolls out of it! (by the way, if you look closely at the picture of the roll's inside, you can see a speck of rosemary on the left side there...click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see it :)).

If you're looking to be slightly adventurous in the kitchen, I definitely think you should try this savory pumpkin pizza dough. And when you do, let me know how it's changed your life because I know it will.

:)

Be Creative with Homemade Pizza!

Happy weekend, blog world friends! I'm enjoying a nice relaxing Saturday morning...just had some tasty homemade oatmeal and a cup of coffee, and after I finish this blog post, I hope to look through some cookbooks for a recipe to make later on today. It's nice to have a weekend here in Boston and not off traveling! I have a lot on my to-do list I'd like to accomplish. :-D

Enough ramblings, I know... Onto more important topics like pizza! I LOVE making homemade pizza. I probably make it about once or twice a month but now that I'm thinking about it, I really should do it even more often than that! It's such a fun and easy meal that's sure to please everyone. I am guessing that many of you have made homemade pizza before, so what I'm about to share isn't necessarily earth-shattering. However, I hope that this post will give you some fun ideas for new toppings or, if you're not someone who makes homemade pizza, maybe you'll start making it after reading this! :)

First of all, I am sad to say that I've never actually made my own pizza dough. It's on my cooking/baking to-do list though! When I finally get around to making my own dough I'll have to have a sequel to this blog post for you. In the meantime though, I'll share that 90% of the time when I make homemade pizza, I use fresh dough from an Italian chain restaurant that's here in the Boston area, Bertucci's. I think they're in a few other states, but they're definitely not a nation-wide chain. Anyway, a few years ago I discovered that you can actually buy THEIR dough, which is seriously one of the best pizza doughs/crusts I know. So for those if you who may live near a Bertucci's and didn't know you can buy their dough, now you know! Exciting, right?! If I don't buy Bertucci's dough, I usually just buy the fresh dough in the grocery store. If whole wheat is an option in the store, I often opt for that (Bertucci's is not whole wheat). A delicious dough is essential to delicious pizza, so be sure you find one that you love!

I have found that it's easiest to work with dough that's cold, so I usually leave mine in the fridge until I'm ready to use it. I also sometimes sprinkle it with flour before I begin to roll it out. Another idea is to sprinkle flour or cornmeal on the surface on which you're rolling out the dough. I most often end up only using my hands though; I don't really "roll it out," per se. I'm usually able to stretch it enough by "playing" :) with it in my hands, and that works just fine for me! I tend to shape it into an oblong shape more often than round, but either works! I don't have a pizza stone (maybe I should look into getting one though!!!), so I just put my pizza on a cookie sheet.

About 99% of the time, I use red sauce on my pizza. Depending on what I have, sometimes I use just plain ol' tomato sauce in a can, and other times I use pasta sauce. Anything goes here, folks! I don't care for too much sauce, so my pizza tends to look like this:

On this particular pizza, I was using Classico pasta sauce, as you can see here!

I would like to try making my own white sauce sometime (I think I have before but I don't know what recipe I used!). This recipe here looks pretty good if you're in the mood for white sauce. A few times now we've actually put barbecue sauce on our pizza in place of red sauce... Such a fun twist on the "norm"!

Next, onto the exciting step of adding your pizza toppings!!!! Although I am not a vegetarian, there are many days when I could go without meat and not miss it one bit. Love my veggies! Typically, I like to load up my pizza with a variety of delish veggies...and then sometimes I add meat too. ;-)

On this pizza below, I put tomatoes, green peppers, mushrooms, onions, and roasted sweet potatoes.

Now, I have to say that there are some veggies that I think are much better on a pizza if you cook them first! Examples include onions, broccoli, peppers (any kind - red, green, etc.), and sweet potatoes. For veggies like peppers, I usually just saute them in a pan on the stove under they're just tender. If you don't cook them ahead of time, I personally think they're a bit too crunchy! Onions I tend to cook more, until they're light to medium golden brown in color. You could also cook them all the way until they're caramelized! That would be very yummy. I just usually don't take the time to do that. But here's a recipe for caramelizing onions if you're interested. ;-) Mushrooms are a veggie that could go either way; I've cooked them prior to going on the pizza before, but I've also put them on raw. Either is fine! And as a side note, if you decide to go non-traditional and try barbecue sauce instead of red sauce as I mentioned earlier, I'd recommend onions, green peppers, and chicken as toppings. Love that combo!

Now, onto a favorite topping of mine...sweet potatoes! Because I am a tad obsessed with sweet potatoes, I almost always have them in the house! I love roasting sweet potatoes with various spices like salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic, chili powder, etc...anything goes! So if at all possible, if I can, I add roasted sweet potatoes to my pizza....such a great addition, I tell ya!

This next pizza has a different variety of veggies on it. I believe I see mushrooms, spinach, red peppers, broccolini, and mashed sweet potatoes. MASHED sweet potatoes? Yes! This pizza was fun because I actually used leftovers I had from when I went out to dinner. I had some broccolini and mashed sweet potatoes left over and thought to myself, these would be perfect on pizza! And they were.

Here's a few pics of that same pizza in the prep stages. ;-)

Veggies...

What's that you see? Could it be bacon? It is! I had some bacon in the freezer, so I decided that would be  a fun and different topping to add (we didn't add too much though, so it didn't make the pizza that unhealthy ;-)). We cooked it on the stove before crumbling it and putting it onto the pizza.

On the pizza below, I believe we put mushroom, tomato, sweet potato (roasted of course!), and chicken! Yum yum yum. Seriously, I'm getting hungry as I type this...

And I know you know this, but definitely cook your chicken before putting it on your pizza. It won't cook thoroughly otherwise. :-P

Close-up! Is your mouth watering yet?! Mine is...

Finally now, we can't forget the cheese! I often go the easy route and add simple shredded cheese to my pizzas. I buy it already shredded in the store...mozzarella, italian blend, mexican blend...anything is a-okay with pizza really! So pick whatever you like best. Sometimes I'll add a less typical, yet very delicious cheese, like goat or gorgonzola. Mmmmm. You could also buy a nice, fresh ball of mozzarella and put slices of it on the pizza. Gosh, that sounds good! This is the fun of making homemade pizza - you decide what goes on it! Oh, and you also can't go wrong with sprinkling some parmesan on either. ;-)

To be completely honest, I don't necessarily always bake my pizza at the same temperature for the same amount of time. I just do it - I don't think about it! I believe though that my oven is usually on around 400 or 425 degrees. I'd say check your pizza as soon as 10 or 12 minutes have passed. Sometimes it really doesn't take long! A typical cooking time though is probably 12 to 15 minutes or so. When your cheese is melted (and maybe slightly golden) and your crust is a nice, light golden brown, you're good to go! It's best to let the pizza sit for a few minutes before slicing it too. ENJOY!

Let me know if you have any other fun topping ideas! I'd love to hear them!

Hey, I just realized that this is the third type of pizza I've shared with you here at the Barbershop. I've previously shared two less common pizzas...a candy pizza and a breakfast pizza. You've got all your meals covered now!

Have a great weekend, friends. :)