Saturday Night BBQ Chicken Calzones

These were a product of my husband's imagination.  You have to understand, first of all, that he is a die hard red sauce + meat + cheese and none of this funny business on his pizza kind of a guy.  So I was pleasantly surprised when he specifically asked me to make calzones with barbecue sauce and chicken in them, and I took off from there.  They were really, really tasty, I must say.  The kids ate seconds.  We enjoyed the leftovers the next day.  Definitely a must make again recipe.

See all that melty cheesy saucy goodness?  YUM!

Calzones

Double batch of pizza crust dough**
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed
kosher salt, fresh ground pepper
Barbecue sauce of your choice (we prefer Jack Daniel's Original No. 7 recipe or Honey Smokehouse)
1 large bell pepper, preferably orange, yellow or red
1 small purple onion
olive oil
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup real bacon bits

Make your pizza crust according to the directions.  While it is rising, fire up the grill and let it preheat at medium for a few minutes.  Sprinkle kosher salt and pepper over the chicken breasts, and put them on the grill.  Cook for 7-8 minutes on the first side.  Meanwhile, slice the purple onion into 1/4 thick rounds, not separating the rings, and quarter the bell pepper so that you have relatively flat slabs.  Drizzle a little olive oil over the veggies and carefully toss to coat, leaving the onion rings intact.  Sprinkle a little more salt and pepper on top.  Add them to the grill when you flip the chicken breasts over, taking care to place the peppers farther away from the flames because they'll burn quickly if you're not careful.

Baste the newly exposed cooked side of the chicken breast with sauce, and shut the lid for another 7-8 minutes.  Flip the chicken over one last time and baste  again with sauce, and and flip over the veggies at the same time.  If you're feeling really snappy, drizzle a little sauce on them too.  Once the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is nicely caramelized but not burned, remove the chicken and veggies to a plate and let the chicken rest for a few minutes before slicing into thin strips.  At this point, you will slice the pepper slabs into 1/4" wide strips and separate the onion rings.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Spray a couple of baking sheets lightly with cooking spray.  Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into a circle about 8" in diameter.  Place a helping of peppers, onions, chicken, cheese and bacon on each one and finish it off with a generous tablespoon (or so) of sauce.  Pull the sides up and pinch to close.  If you want to be all fancy and scientific about it, mix the filling around a little bit, but I found that it worked just fine this way.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the calzones are uniformly golden brown, and devour immediately.  I have a sneaking suspicion that these would be awesome with a little bit of well drained pineapple, but a certain someone in my house doesn't think you should add fruit to pizza or pizza-like concoctions.

**This particular batch of dough I used both white wheat and semolina flour as my whole grain mix along with all purpose flour as directed in the recipe.  I find that I really really love semolina in pizza doughs.  It adds a brightness of flavor and I love the sunshiney yellow color.

Pear & Gorgonzola Pizza

1 (16 ounce) package refrigerated pizza crust dough
4 ounces sliced provolone cheese
1 Bosc pear, thinly sliced
2 ounces chopped walnuts
2 1/2 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. Place pizza crust dough on a medium baking sheet. Layer with Provolone cheese. Top cheese with Bosc pear slices. Sprinkle with walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese.
3. Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is lightly browned. Remove from heat. Top with chives and slice to serve.

THIS IS SOOO GOOD!

Pizza Crust

I asked Rachel what she wanted for dinner last night and she asked for pizza. I thought I'd share my version of crust. Michelle's post got me in the mood : ). I always make my own crust, and frankly I never really measure it anymore. Last night I paid attention to what I was dumping in, so here you go. After many experiments, we find that we're happiest with half whole wheat flour and half white flour.

1 cup warm water
1 t. active dry yeast
1 1/2 T. olive oil
2 T. honey
1 t. salt
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I prefer hard white winter wheat)
1 1/2-2 cups white flour

Pour the warm water into a medium size bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. Dump in the olive oil, honey and salt, then stir in the whole wheat flour. Add the white flour a little at a time until it is too stiff to stir, then knead for about 5 minutes, adding additional flour as necessary, until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Drizzle a little additional olive oil into the bowl and turn the dough to coat evenly on all sides. Cover the bowl with a towel and let rest for an hour, or until doubled.

Preheat the oven to 425. Turn the dough out onto a pizza stone (Pampered Chef brand ones are far superior to any others that I've tried) and press the dough with the heel of your hands to cover the stone. Prick all over with a fork and bake for 8 minutes. Layer your favorite toppings on top and return to the oven for an additional 8-12 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and delicious and to your liking.

My kids aren't very adventurous. Actually neither is Alan. Their favorite pizza is pepperoni and shredded bacon. I can think of all sorts of marvelous things to top my pizza with - roasted peppers/chicken/purple onions/bacon/BBQ sauce, feta cheese/zucchini/red peppers/yellow squash/pesto, roasted tomatoes/fresh mozarella/fresh basil....mmmm. Use your imagination. You can rarely go wrong with pizza!

Pizza for You

Found this recipe here & fell in love. Let's face it--anything mini or personal size just wins my heart. This is my weekend tester recipe!

Joy’s Mini Pizza Bowl (Serves 4)

Things you’ll need for the pizza:

1 package of large white mushrooms (cut off the stems and chop in quarters)
1 shallot (sliced thin)
1 bunch of basil (sliced in strips)
1 package of pre-cut pepperoni (optional)
a mix of cheeses (mozzarella, jack, provolone, etc.)
your favorite pre-made tomato sauce
dough (you can buy it pre-made or make your own with my recipe below)
4 small ceramic bowls or ramekins that are oven-safe

Things you’ll need for the dough (if you want to make your own):
2 teaspoons of active dry yeast (10g)
1 teaspoon of sugar (5g)
1-1/3 cups of lukewarm milk (315ml)
2-1/2 cups of all purpose flour (310g)
1 teaspoon of salt (5g)
1 tablespoon of olive oil (15ml)

The dough:

Combine the yeast, sugar, and milk in a bowl and mix. Set aside for 5 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface. Add the flour, salt, and oil to the yeast mixture and mix until a smooth dough forms. Knead with hands on a lightly floured surface for minutes or until smooth and elastic. You can add flour if the dough gets too sticky. Return to the bowl and cover lightly with plastic wrap for 30 minutes or until doubled in size. While you’re waiting for this, you can get started on the toppings…

The toppings:
Sauté the mushrooms, basil, and onions with a little olive oil. Add some salt, pepper, and garlic as you like. Once lightly cooked, set aside in a bowl. Don’t cook this too much as it will continue to cook in the oven later.

Fill the pizza:
Preheat the oven to 375F/190C degrees.
Once the dough has risen, cut it into 4 quarters with a large, sharp knife. Knead each section for another minute or so, then flatten to about 1/4″ thickness (3/4cm). The circle of dough should be a bit larger than the opening of the bowls you’ll be using so that it can cover the top completely.

Now, here’s the fun part. Add toppings to each bowl alternating cheese, sauce, and other toppings. You should be able to fit two layers of each…so for example…sautéed mushrooms, pepperoni, sauce, cheese, then repeat…top it off with the flattened dough which should sit right on top of the bowl and overlap the edge a bit just like a pie crust. Brush the top of the dough with a bit of olive oil.

Place the bowls on a baking pan and pop into the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the bread is a light golden brown. Once they’re done, invert each bowl upside down on a large plate (since you’ll need a fork and knife to eat this), and use a spoon to help nudge the edges of the crust off the bowl. It should come out pretty easily. Top with ground pepper and more basil if you’d like.